Love in the beginning
by ghost princess Perona
Summary: Hashirama and Madara agreed to create the village, but there is one problem... Madara is a female! Hashirama, who has been head over heels in love with her for years, tries to get her attention and suddenly finds out he is practically incapable of talking to her outside the usual places. But what cousins are for? Well, at least they are more helpful than brothers. Hashimada.
1. Chapter 1

Hello! This is something I wrote out of boredom in my classes. Enjoy it!

Naruto is not mine

The great last fight between Hashirama and Madara was going on while Tobirama observed, worried about his brother´s safety. Luckily for him, the one that ended up defeated in the floor was Madara, who couldn´t move anymore. As his brother was too tired to do it anymore, he took out his sword, putting it right over the raven´s hearth. He looked at him, knowing that he was going to die this day.

"Madara, you are finished"

"Wait, Tobirama"

"Why, aniya?" he was furious, was that sorry excuse for a childhood friendship really making the brunette spare the Uchiha? "it´s our chance" tried to make him reason the albino, but just by seeing his brother´s face he knew that the other man was no joking.

"I forbid you to do it" he ordered, for once using the authority a clan leader should have. He turned to his childhood friend, who was looking at him with tired and sad eyes. The brunette suddenly felt the need to soothe the Uchiha, to embrace the raven and tell the most stupid.

"Just get it over with, Hashirama" Madara didn´t want this to drag for much long. "It would be an honour to die by your hand"

"Stop saying that" he tried to keep his calm, but in a situation like this it wasn´t easy. "If I kill the leader of the Uchiha clan, it will only incite the young ones who follow you"

"The isn´t anyone left like that in the Uchiha clan anymore" said the raven with absolute sincerity. He knew that the clan had long since abandoned their leader, tired of war. Madara was tires too, but… trusting old enemies in no attacking them? Not a chance.

"Sure there are" Hashirama was sincere too. "Maybe not now, but give them some time… Come on" he tried to convince the other again. "Why don´t we end this war? We made a promise, remember? To create a village someday" this somehow brought back to their minds the memories of their childhood and what they have done together. "Can´t we go back to skipping rocks together?"

"That´s just impossible" and to prove the point, the Uchiha had the most malicious plan. He asked his former friend to kill himself or his brother to be equals, knowing that there was no way that he would do it. But when he say the man taking off his armour and then putting a kunai in his gut, first the raven asked if he was joking and then hurried his hand to stop the idiot. There was no way the war would end if he died, Tobirama would just continue with it in his memory… even if he wanted it to end. And after that scare… "Okay, we form a village… can you please help me up to my feet?"

"Su… sure" suddenly the older Senju felt awkward, as if touching the hand of the other was embarrassing. When his hand touch the raven´s his face lit up red. The albino raised an eyebrow, not knowing what to think. "On the count of…"

"Just help me up, idiot"

"Hey, don´t talk to my idiot of a brother like that!" he moved and imprudently got in the Uchiha clan head´s way, touching his chest… he immediately went red, as well as his brother and the Uchiha, taking a few steps away from them. The raven hugged his chest. Hashirama got between them, sensing a problem. "Wha… what?"

"Pervert!" now Madara was the one talking. "Is that a way to touch a lady?!"

"Lady?!" everyone except the Uchihas was surprised. It was no secret inside the clan that their leader was a female… a very unfeminine female. In fact, they never intended to keep it a secret, it was just that… no one ever would believe that the great Madara Uchiha was a woman.

"How was I suppose to know that you are a girl?! And it wasn´t my intension to touch you! I would never touch a she male like you! With the way you are dressed and your porcupine hair no one would take you for a female! Even Tokka is more feminine than you!"

"What´s that suppose to mean, Tobirama nii-san?" the mentioned woman got towards her cousin, a vein pulsing in her forehead.

"Oh, shut up, Tokka! I´m talking to the other she male here!" BAM! The punch his cousin gave him in the head send him to the ground. Hashirama, a little bit scared, gave his brother a hand. He was sure now, you should never mess with females. They were scary. "Auch… why does she has to punch me? I just said the truth"

"That was enough reason" after a short talk to apologize in the name of his brother and set a place for the truce to be official, they returned to their compound. They need to pack for the moving that was soon to come. "You know, otouto, you should have stayed where you were. Now Tokka is mad at you."

"I don´t care" he rubbed his bump from where Tokka hit him. "Damn, did she have to hit me so hard?" the brunette nodded, trying some clothes in front of the mirror. Suddenly every piece of clothing he owned seemed lame. His brother looked at him. "You knew he was a she, no?"

"What?"

"Don´t make a fool of yourself, I´m talking about Madara" he nodded, turning a bit red. "How did you find out? No one could believe it."

"I… I… spied on her a few years ago… when we were on the riverside" his face turn redder when he remembered it. "I started to wonder why my friend never went to the bathroom in front of me during our games and… I followed her. She has already taken off her pants when I stood behind her and she turned still" he rubbed his cheek. "When she found out she slapped me so hard that I had a red mark with the form of her hand for a week straight"

"The she male was embarrassed? I thought that she has already been seen by many men naked."

"She was a girl and no" he lowered his gaze. "Don´t say things like that over a lady, more about a clan leader" he turned to the mirror again. "What do you think I should be wearing? This seems too formal and this one… I don´t know if this clothes favoured me"

"Wear anything, I doubt anyone would care as long as it´s formal. Why do you ask?" his brother got quiet. God, why was he acting like that? It was as if he was a thirteen years old!

"And my hair? Should I bath? Yes, obviously I should bath, I´m covered in sweat!" he said after smelling himself. "A good cologne would be needed too…"

"Hashirama, what are you doing?"

"Nothing"

"Seriously"

"Nothing!" he yelled turning around. Tobirama got even more suspicious. Yes, his brother was strange, but he never acted like that, specially yelling at him. And since when he was so ridiculously interested in his appearance. "Noting at all, little brother. Why don´t you go outside? I bet you can find more interesting things to do than seeing me"

"Aniya…"

"Go, go, I´m okay" he smiled, trying to appear okay even if he was so nervous inside that he was going to faint. Outside, Tokka was watching them with disbelieve. She was just trying to find a way to take revenge on Tobi for calling her a she male, not to find out that Hashirama had some problems with females. "Oh, hello, Tokka-chan"

"Hello, Hashirama nii-san" no, he wasn´t like that with her. Maybe she should just observe the situation for now and discover what was really happening with his cousin. "Ummm, if you had a problem, you would tell me and Tobi nii-san, no?"

"But of course! I would share anything with you!"

"Hope so" she turned around and left. He sighed then and continued choosing his clothing. A depressive cloud appeared over his head. "Ummm, Madara was right, my clothes are lame" he threw them away. "I don´t have anything to wear!"

"What?" she asked, still with an ear on the wall. This was a juicy gossip, her cousin, the Senju clan head, searching for an Uchiha female´s approbation? Who would have said.

"I need something…"

"Oh, he needs help"

-On the peace conference-

"Thank you" Hashirama whispered when he shook Madara´s hand in a sign of friendship between their clans. He was surprised when the Uchiha appeared in her usual clothing, even a little bit disappointed… not because she didn´t look good, she did! She always did in his eyes! But… she would look prettier in a kimono… this send heat straight to his face, making him curse at his luck. He was actually blushing in front of a girl.

"Hashirama, are you alright?" the raven asked, concerned when they got away from the central point. "You are a bit red… do you have a fever?"

"No"

"But…"

"I´m okay!" the brunette tried to get away. Tokka, who was following them, raised an eyebrow. Was he awkward with girls? But with she, he was normal… then again, the man and her grew up together and were as close as siblings, there was no way she was a good example. Hum, then again… maybe she should follow them before she makes a wrong idea in her head. "Do… do you want to go to the… the…"

"Hey, look someone is preparing inarizushi! Let´s eat some" Madara went to order it and the brunette just followed. He wasn´t a fan of inarizushi, his cousin knew that, why was he eating that with her? The woman that was attending it was young and pretty, so she prepared for her cousin to make a fool of himself.

"Two orders" he said naturally, sending the girl a shinning smile that could make anyone fell in love with him… but was useless against the Uchiha. They left while the girl stared at him with hearths in her eyes. "Thank you"

"What the hell is happening here?" she asked still following.

"Madara… do you… do you…" he went red again, scratching his nape like a teen. Then she realised it. The problem wasn´t with every girl, the problem was just with Uchiha Madara. "Do you… do you… ermmmm… I… you… ehhh…"

"What?" she was confused. Why was Hashirama suddenly acting like this? He wasn´t like that even when they went to the battlefield to fight against each other. "Is something the matter? Do you want to talk about something?"

"Do you… do you…" he tried to say the words, but with her looking at his eyes like that it was hard to concentrate. The blush spread. "Do you want to… go to the river with me? Like friends, I mean, there is no way that…"

"Sure, why not? You are my best friend" Tokka sighed. Now she knows what was happening. She crossed her arms and left the leaders alone. She went straight to his cousin´s new house, which was only wood for now and sat down in the living room, waiting for him. Tobirama won´t come, after all he now had his own house. A few hours later a red faced Senju arrived, hitting himself for not being able to talk to his best friend as normally as he wanted.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid" he berated in low voice. "It´s just a girl… your best friend… a girl… a female… a very gorgeous female" he choked. "What am I saying?! I have to focuss…"

"Trouble with girls, nii-san?" he jumped when he sensed her in the room. "Of course, you are so stupid that it doesn´t surprise me anymore" she walked towards him. "What? Are you not going to offer me a tea?"

"Why are you here?!"

"I saw you making a fool of yourself in the battlefield in front of a girl… worst in fact" she glared at him. "At first I thought that you were awkward with girls, something you should have gotten over in puberty" her eyes were piercing her. "But I saw you with other females and realised you were not as incapable as I thought"

"Thank…"

"Don´t interrupt me!" she ordered, startling him. "You are truly hopeless! What kind of men your age have trouble to talk to a woman? And worse, to the woman he likes!" he went red at once. "Are you a thirteen years old or what? You know her since childhood!"

"I… I…" he couldn´t talk. For the first time in her life, Tokka felt more powerful than him. And being more powerful than the God of Shinobi was something incredible. "I… am… I… she… me… and her… well…"

"Okay, I understand, you are shy near her. It´s obvious for you to feel like that being trapped in the friendzone and everything" he took a few steps back. "Don´t worry, I have the perfect plan to break you out." She smiled at him. "Nii-san, I´m going to teach you how to win a girl. Learning from me you couldn´t possible fail."

"Are you… are you not a girl yourself?"

"Exactly! You are learning about women´s feelings from a woman, there is no way you can mess this up!" Hashirama was unsure, but there was no way his cousin was letting him out of this. Well, this could be worse… no, there was no way. he was going to make a fool of himself in front of the woman he loved. What could be worse.

-The next week-

"Okay, stage one… talk to her" the female Senju strolled around next to her cousin, who was just elected Hokage. She has been giving him some lessons, as she liked to call them, but he couldn´t understand them. "Say pretty things to her, like that she looks good, or that her hair is nice… whatever you can think of" They saw Madara on one of the stands in the market, buying tomatoes. "There she is, talk to her"

"I can´t!"

"Stop chickening out and talk to her!" she screamed. Pushing him towards the Uchiha female, he stopped in his tracks midway, trembling from head to toe. His cousin shook her head. This was a lost case. "Stupid"

"He… hello… Madara… I…" he waved his hands. He remembered the last time they saw each other, she smiled so beautifully that he lost his words completely. The Uchiha gave him a glare, she wasn´t in the mood to see him. He promised to make her Hokage, but didn´t keep it. "He… hey, don´t look at me like that. I tried to make you Hokage, but…"

"But what?" she knew exactly why he couldn´t make her Hokage. One, his brother was an anti Uchiha idiot that convinced everyone not to make her their leader. Two, the other clan heads were brainwashed by him… not that they have a brain to wash. And three… THEY WERE ALL MALIST IDIOTS! They could not accept that a woman was better than the most of them! "Forget it"

"Come on, don´t be like that" he followed her. "In the next clan meeting you can tell them some things about your plans to allow more females into the shinobi ranks…"

"Their Neanderthal brains aren't ready for that" she bit her lips.

"Easy there" he lowered his head, not knowing what to do. "You know… your hair… is so pretty that… black" she looked at him. "Like a raven´s wings or the nightly sky"

"Really?" she asked. "My parents always told me that it wasn´t pretty, that it makes me look like a porcupine. It can´t be helped, even if I brush it, it wouldn´t stay down" she touched it. "They also said that I was so ugly that they believed that I was never going to get a man" she sighed "You know, that was the reason I joined the shinobi ranks in the first place. They thought that if I was not worthy enough as a female, I will be as a warrior."

"Oh, that´s horrible"

"Nah, it was the best thing they did for me" she smiled wickedly. "I loved the training and surpassing their expectances. When I started beating the boys my age my father couldn´t believe it!" she laughed "I progressed so fast that in a few months I got powerful enough to replace my dead brothers as clan heir, even if Izuna was there. And here I am now, one of the few female clan heads and sparing as equals with the God of Shinobi."

"Yes…" he saw the things on his hands. Then he remembered something his father taught him when he was younger. "Can I carry your bags for you?"

"Why?! Do you think I´m weak?!"

"NOOOO!" he tried to apologize, but she was already storming off to her own house. He was left there weeping, with Tokka approaching him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "What did I do wrong? My father always carried the bags for my mother."

"Yes, but she is not like your mother" the woman shook his head. "Mandaku, you are really hopeless. You were making some progress and you just have to ruin it with your big stupid mouth." She glared. "Next time I will make sure you succeed"

"I´m fearing for my life now"

"Don´t be a baby and follow me" she guided him to another part of the market, where the stands were full of jewellery and silk. "Now… you are going to apologize to her. But not any apologize. You are going to go with a gift"

"A… a gift? What kind of gift could I give to her? Madara doesn´t like anything in here"

"Come on, she is a woman. Of course she like them" she pushed them towards the stand. "Now go there and pick something."

"I… ummm" why does he has to feel so ashamed when he was around Madara? The Uchiha plagued his mind, specially that beautiful smile she gave him the day he said he wanted her to be Hokage. Ohhhhhhh, now that was so amazing… a cheerful salute took him out of his dream.

"Hokage-sama! It´s an honour for me to have you here!" the girl on the stand smiled at him, making him smile too, but just to be educated with her. "What are you doing here? Are you looking for something? Something for a… female friend?"

"Yes. Can you show me your merchandise?" she went to the back of the shop and pulled out a box of her best merchandise. He started looking at the expensive silks and shiny jewels that she pulled out. Then something caught his attention. It was dark, like the night, but also pretty. Just like… "What about this?"

"That? Well… it´s made of the best silk, but no one was interested in it" the girl showed him the kimono and the obi that came with it. "Most women liked the lively designs more, like sakura blossoms or koi fishes. The nightly sky doesn´t seem to get on with her."

"But I know Madara will like this" she ooohed and nodded. Hashirama looked at the kimono again, moving it to see the star pattern in white. The woman then pulled something out, it was a necklace with a crystal star. "What is that?"

"Something… I think it would look cute along with the kimono. I will even sell it to you half price" she smiled, putting both things into a box. "Good luck!"

"Good…"

"Thank you… crazy" Tokka grabbed her cousin and took him away, as well as the box. They started walking towards the Uchiha compound. The man was trembling form head to toe, making his gift move. She rolled her eyes, he really was hopeless. "Come on, you are going not going to visit the damnyo, you are going to talk to Madara"

"That´s the problem, I can´t… I…" he started trembling again. "I should leave her the gift with a letter and go back home. I bet she doesn´t like seeing me…"

"Let me get this straight" she stopped in her tracks, standing in front of him. "You can go to fight in a deathly battle without fear, but talking to a girl… to your best friend… send you into a panic attack?" he nodded. "You are truly unbelievable!"

"I am, so now…"

"Ohhhh, no mister, you are not going to escape this one" she tossed him towards the door of the main house of the compound. "Enter there and apologize like a man"

"Tokka!"

"You are going to thank me later" she disappeared from sight.

"Ehhhh, wait, To…!"

"Hashirama? Is that you?" Madara opened the door to her house in that moment. He went stiff in a second and turned around, paling when he looked at the female. She was wearing her usual attire, something that definitely would make her pass for a male, but even like that she was the prettiest thing he ever saw. "What are you doing here?"

"I… I wanted to apologize for offending you" he said at full speed, putting the box in front of his face. "Here, a peace offering. Hope you like it, I…"

"Why don´t you come in?" she accepted the gift, opening her door more. "I just made some warm tea, you can drink some with me" the raven waited until he was inside to close the door, then poured some hot tea for the two of them. "Here, drink it while it´s warm" his hands were shaking so much that he nearly couldn´t take the cup. They sat in the living room in silence. "So… you wanted to apologize? There is no need, I overreacted."

"Th… thank you for forgiving me"

"Don´t worry, I know you only wanted to be gentle" she put her cup on the floor. "But if you ever EVER again make something that makes me look weak, then I will rip your intestines out and trap you into the Tsukuyomi for your last moments, got it?"

"Got it" he said. The poor brunette has been the victim of Madara´s Tsukuyomi enough times for him to know that his best friend, the pretty little thing he was so in love with, can be utterly sadistic. While he was so caught in his thoughts about horrible tortures that were only capable of existing inside of his friend´s illusion world, she pulled the box towards herself. She looked at it as if wondering if she should open it.

"An apologize gift, eh? Wonder what you got me" she opened the box with an amused expression. She was surprised when she found a silk kimono inside of it, dark as the night with white stars. "This…"

"If you don´t like it, I can give it back and…"

"No, no, I like it, it´s just that… no one ever gifted me a kimono before" she put it over her body. "Of course I have a few of them… my mother had plenty and when she died I inherited them, but… my parents always treated me as if I was a boy, especially after I begin training. They often gave me some kunai, swords, an expensive set of shurikens… whatever, boy stuff… so this is the first kimono that is… mine."

"I… am glad you liked it"

"More than… what is this?" there was a tiny jewellery box. She opened it, finding the shinny star necklace. "This… how many of my first things are you going to steal? You just gifted me my first jewel."

"Really?"

"What part of "I was another son to my parents" did you don´t understand?" she moved a little bit nervous, turning around and putting her hair out of the place to show him her neck. "Come here"

"What?!" his face was red.

"Are you going to help me to put it on or not? Because I can´t do it alone, I never have to" with shaky hands, the Senju approached and took the lock, slowly putting the chain around the white neck of his friend. After many tries, he managed to lock it and released it, sending a final look at the gorgeous neck of the other before it was covered by the hair. "Thank you, it is pretty"

"Glad you…"

"You have already said that" she smiled at him. "Why don´t we get out of here? I´m getting sick of staying home" she grabbed the kimono. "I´m going to hang this, wait for me here. Then we can go to the Naka river and spar a bit" the woman laughed. "You will see how I can defeat you easily!"

"Not a chance" now he was more comfortable. Madara and him in the river, like when they were kids. Exactly the kind of thing he was accustomed to. "Ready to go?"

"Yes" she appeared with her scythe and gunbai. "Come on, Senju. Let´s dance together"

-Later-

"And we danced… oh, how much I love to see her dance" Hashirama was daydreaming while his cousin sweat dropped, putting another bandage in his arm. He had multiple cuts because he was too busy staring at Madara´s nearly hypnotic movements to take a good care of himself and cover from the scythe. She placed another bandage on his forehead. "Hey, Tokka, not so tight. It hurts."

"Sorry… but you realise that you weren´t exactly dancing, no? Well, at least not like an ordinary couple" she tried to make him reason, but his mind was in a world so full of ponies, cupids and hearths that he didn´t even heard her. "Okay… you are in love and finally able to talk to her without stuttering or making a fool of yourself, that´s great"

"I… I spent a lot of time… dreaming of the day"

"Oh, come on, you just spar" she tightened his bandages just to make him come down to earth and speak with him as a normal person. "Look, nii-san, you advanced a lot today, but you are going to need to put more effort if you want to win her."

"Win her… yes, that would be nice" he then realised. "Hey, Tokka, are you going to help me win Madara over, no?"

"It depends, what are your intentions with her?" she said suspiciously. The Senju female was worried about the village. If he did something wrong to their leader, the Uchihas will rise. Even if she could see the sincere love her cousin had for the Uchiha a mile away, she was forced to ask.

"I… I have been in love with her since I met her" he lowered his head, going red again. "I don´t know… how to ask her… but… I want to marry her" his sincerity made her want to help him even more. "I… can´t even ask her for a date."

"Well, you have some confidence issues, we will have to work on them" she conceded. "Why don´t you ask the Uchiha elder council? They have the power to give away any female of their clan, even the princess or clan head. I bet the old farts will say yes, there is no way anyone would refuse the Hokage."

"I… want to include her in this. I want to be able to court her first, to make her fell in love with me, not just forcing her to accept me as her husband" so cute! This made him look even more than a little kid trying to impress a girl! And he was so sweet, trying to win her over instead of just asking for her hand! That surely made him better than many other men.

"Okay, I will help you" the female Senju said. "But this is going to be a long battle, so prepare yourself" he nodded confident that he will achieve it… or at least to talk to Madara outside the riverside without stuttering. "Let´s do this… oh, first you have to promise me something."

"What?"

"Don´t even try to peep at her naked before marriage… ever" she glared at him. "If you do I´m going to kill you like the dog you are and catch your head on fire… or worse" she smiled "I´m going to tell Tobirama nii-san!"

"There was no need to treat me, I understand" he raised his hands. This was going to be a long and agonizing battle, probably the longest and most difficult one he face… but to get Madara´s love he was determined to do everything.

-A year later-

"Something strange is going on here" Tobirama talked to himself when he saw his brother walking alongside Madara through the village. He grabbed the new set of kunai he just bought and walked right behind them. The female was smiling at the brunette and he did the same. It was as if they were… "No, that´s not possible."

"What is not possible, nii-san?" asked Tokka, appearing from behind him. The albino looked at her, controlling himself and making as if he knew the whole time she was there. "Ohhh, you must be talking about Madara-sama, no?" she smiled wickedly. "Cute girl. A little bit hard on the edges but…"

"I was not asking about that" the white haired Senju glared at her. "Tell me exactly what is going on here right this moment or I will…"

"Or you will what?" she continued, sending him a fun filled look. "Come on, tell me. What will you do? To your own cousin, who isn´t making anything wrong" she put a hand on her forehead. "What a cruel nii-sama I have!"

"Stop faking and tell me"

"Hummmm… no, I don´t want to" she answered. "Good luck trying to guess what is "the strange thing" that is happening, dear!"

"Okay, don´t do it, I will find it myself" he stormed away, leaving her to her thoughts. Tobirama for his part, followed them from a distance, to see what the couple was doing. He nearly had a hearth attack when he found out that his brother was courting the Uchiha clan leader. After recovering with some oxygen, he was furious. But really furious beyond believe. "I have to stop this nonsense" he grabbed a paper and ink. "Time to call desperate messures."


	2. Chapter 2

"Mito-chan?" a red haired woman entered to her daughter´s room. She was finishing preparing for the day, helped by her friend and lady in waiting. After all, a princess always has to have servants and chamber aids. "Can you come here please? Your father wants to talk to you"

"In a second, mother" she answered, letting her maid and friend put the last tag in her hair. The sandy brunette giggled once she finished, bowing jokingly in front of the princess. She smiled, putting a mirror in front of her. As always, she was gorgeous. The Uzumaki complimented her after she saw herself in there, because despite their different social statuses they were good friends.

"What do you think, Mito-chan?"

"It´s great, Midori-chan" the other girl pulled one of her bangs, seeing herself from different angles. "You have to teach me how to do it, you always made my hair look amazing, but every time I made your hair, I do it awful."

"No! You are getting much better" the servant was putting everything away. "Last time you tried, my buns didn´t look like a sheep has licked them" they laughed a bit. "My mother thought I look cute"

"Cute, hum?" maybe the woman only said that because the friendship her daughter shared with the princess got them some benefits, like some free jewels the redhead liked to gift her only and best friend. "I should try again, this time I will do it fine" she grabbed a comb. "Stay still, I will finish in…"

"Ummm, Mito-chan… your highness, it´s not that I don´t like the way you do my hair, but… wasn´t your father calling you? I mean… you have to hurry, hime-sama."

"Right" they started walking towards the main place of the big Uzumaki household. "Wonder why he is calling me at this hour, normally he would talk to me on breakfast or dinner… what do you think?"

"I can´t even dare to try and guess what the Lord´s thoughts are for calling you this early in the morning, princess" the handmaiden was talking like that only because they were in a public place, where anyone can hear them. They finally arrived to the place where her father will talk to her. "Do you need something else, my Lady?"

"No, retire" the servants around them continued walking as if nothing has happened. It was a very usual conversation, so they don´t need to pay attention. The princess breathed in and entered the room. She just hoped that he did not realise her friendship with Midori-chan, that never. He will force her to end it and get another handmaiden. "Did you want to see me, chichue-sama?"

"Yes, mi child. Please, sit down with me" he signalled the other cushion in the room. She did it in perfect seiza, watching her poise to keep it perfect, just like he liked it. When he was content, the redheaded man begin talking. "What do you know about Konohagakure no sato?"

"It was formed a short time ago, with an alliance between our cousins and the Uchiha clan" she said, trying to remember that short chat. She wasn´t suppose to be listening, but she was a kunoichi, an active one, and she wasn´t going to let herself be in the ignorance. "The other clans promptly followed their example, forming the village system."

"Perfect" he said, as if he was evaluating her. "in the past, being a village like our Uzushiogakure assured safety, but now that the other followed the example of our cousins, our little size compared to them… has placed us in a precarious position" the man looked at her with warry eyes. "We need an alliance"

"I´m aware of that" yes, she was. Due to their blood relation with the Senju clan, the Uzumakis will be persecuted by the other ninja villages, specially Kirigakure, which was close to the land of Whirlpools. Besides, the other clans have ever feared them for their power and longevity, making them targets. "And I´m aware too that, as the princess of this Land, I can´t let our people die" she straightened herself. "Chichue-sama, with all due respect, until now you haven´t ever talked to me about the villages, what changed now?"

"My child, something indeed has happened earlier today" he pulled out a piece of paper he was clutching in his hands. "This has arrived here this morning. It´s a petition for an alliance between Uzushiogakure and Konoha."

"They surely are honourable" she said, not knowing what else to say.

"Yes, the Senju honoured the link they have with us and the other clans respect our Fuinjutsu, something the other villages has learned to fear" he put down the letter. She nodded. "There is something else I wanted to talk to you about, my daughter" she looked at him curious. "The Hokage himself is going to visit us soon, as the letter said, to sign the alliances."

"Do you want me to prepare a, official welcome for him, chichue-sama?" she asked, knowing exactly what was expected of her. "And the preparation of the main house rooms he and his guards will use during their stay?"

"Yes" she started making some plans in her head. "And another thing, my child" he looked at her with a strange look. "This petition for an alliance could have another meaning that we all know well."

"What do you mean, father?"

"Tell me, Mito-chan, what´s the strongest sign of an alliance?" this threw her aback. She knew exactly the answer, but she wasn´t sure to like the outcome of that. Her face should have told her father something, because he smiled. "Of course you know. A marriage is the strongest sign of an alliance in the shinobi world" he continued. "It could be that the Hokage has heard about you and he wants to meet you in person… to court you."

"Chichue-sama, me and Senju Hashirama could be cousins, but we haven´t met each other, not even on the battlefield" she stated. "Why could he even think about marrying me?"

"Yes, maybe that´s the case, but you know how unstable alliances could be this times" he continued. "And for the sake of the village, you have to do some things that perhaps at first are not to your liking" she nodded, a little bit mortified. "Don´t worry, love will blossom with time, I am sure"

"Are you sure that he comes here seeking for a marriage?"

"No, and that´s why I want you to make your best effort to make him fall in love with you" he ordered her, surprising her. "Show him the Lady you are and what a good mother you can be for his children. Show him you are the right one, a woman of honour, a worthy kunoichi and our alliance to Konohagakure will be a success"

"Chichue-sama" she bit her lips. She heard some tales of the man. He was said to be the most powerful shinobi of their time, but also a very kind person. So kind that he forgave his enemy and allowed him to live in the village. Maybe she can fell in love with someone like that. "As you order."

"That´s my girl" he said. "You can go now… oh, and your mother wants you to talk to her later. She will call you soon, wait for her"

"Understood, have a good day" she bowed in respect and started walking towards the exit. A little bit shocked, she returned to the room, where her friend was, doing her bed. Midori raised her head when she heard someone coming and then bowed. Mito closed the door behind her and the handmaiden stopped working.

"Mito-chan, what happened to you?" she got closer, worried for her. "You are so pale and sweaty… did your father said something you didn´t like?"

"No, it´s just that" the redhead sat down on the bed. "Sit down, you will need it" she started talking about the conversation she had with her father. The other girl was a little bit surprised, but in the end she understood it. Marriage was important, a woman have to be a good wife. Even kunoichis. "But… I don´t know if I can fell in love with him. It´s a man I haven´t met before and he is… I don´t know."

"Come on, you don´t have to marry him straight after knowing him" she tried to calm her distressed friend down. "And if you don´t like him, just tell your father that it didn´t work out" she smiled in a wicked way. "I will ever support you and have a plan that will drive any man away. So if you don´t like him… let everything in my hands."

"And If I liked him?" the Uzumaki put her head in her hands. "I have hears a lot of good things about him in the past. That he is young, handsome, kind… he seems like my perfect man, but is he really like that?"

"Mito dear, what rumours said and the truth is not always the same" Midori lifted one finger. "And if he is like you say, then you should at least give him a chance. He might be the love of your life."

"You are right" the redhead finally smiled. "I will… I will give him a chance"

"That´s my girl!" the handmaiden clapped and cheered. When they stopped celebrating, the servant went straight to the other´s wardrobe, pulling it open. "Now we have to pick something from here for you to wear. It´s going to be your very first date and we want him to be amazed, don´t you think?"

"My mother was going to talk to me later…"

"Then we should hurry up" the girl started taking out some kimonos, putting them in the bed so her princess can try them on in front of the mirror. "Hummm, some of them are not adequate, they are too old." Midori shook her head. "You are going to have to buy some new kimonos before the Hokage arrives."

"Maybe I can convince mother to give me the money to buy some, she must be very interested in this too" the princess crossed her arms. "Yes, she definitely will give me. Are you up for a trip to the market later?"

"If my Lady wishes…"

"There is no need to be so formal, the market people already know that we are friends" there was a knock on the door. The handmaiden opened the door and bowed to her superior, who was there to retrieve the princess. As Mito said, her mother was expecting her. The older woman sat in a cushion when she arrived t her room, sipping some tea.

"Your father said that you are going to be trying to get the Hokage´s affections" she sipped more. "Do you know how to do it?" she shook her head. "Yes, you are too much of a child" the Uzumaki matriarch get up. "That´s why I´m going to help you with everything you need… and more" Mito was about to ask what more, but was stopped by her mother. "Do you have enough kimonos and jewels?"

"I was making Midori help me with that, but apparently… no" she answered. "Can you give me some money to buy them at the market?"

"Here, have some. Tell Midori to carry them back home as soon as you finish your shopping"

"Thank you, mother" she said her goodbyes and then went to the market. The girls entertained themselves the rest of the day looking at the beautiful expositions each shop gave them. Mito got a lot of new kimonos, even secretly bought one for Midori. They went back and shown the oldest Uzumaki their things. After getting their approval, they disappeared into the room. "How do you think they will be when they arrive?"

"I don´t know" the handmaiden was preparing the stove for her lady, moving the charcoal to avoid it from catching too much flame. "But I wish for his bodyguards to be some sexy non clan head ninja I could fell in love with."

"That would be good"

-In Konoha-

"Do we really have to do this?" asked Hashirama, annoyed. Even Tokka was sending Tobirama her worst glare. The reason? The albino had suddenly made a petition of alliance to Uzushiogakure, obviously a trick to get his brother and the Uchiha clan leader away from each other at the same time that he probably got a chance to (by force) engage his brother to the Uzumaki princess. "Tobirama…"

"I already announced that you will come, it will be rude for you not to show up" the white haired Senju answered, packing his own things. "Besides, only the leader of the village could seal an alliance as important as that. Do you remember that, no?"

"Yes, yes, but I don´t get why just now" the brunette was so angry. He was making some advances with his affair with Madara and suddenly his brother got in the middle. Why was he not surprised? "Is Tokka ready?" the albino shuddered when he remembered with who he was going to be travelling with. "Tokka?"

"I´m not the other bodyguard" this suddenly startled Tobi. What was she saying? "I got a little bit injured in my last mission. It´s nothing serious, but… the cut can be poisoned" she smiled to her younger cousin. "I have to go to the hospital"

"And?"

"I arranged for someone else to be your bodyguard" she smiled. "I bet you will be more than satisfied with my arrangement, Hashi-niisan."

"Who do you…" suddenly the Uchiha clan leader appeared with a bag and her battle fan in the back. The albino man stared at her in disbelieve, while his brother was internally declaring his (very fraternal) love for Tokka and, with hearths in eyes, went to welcome the raven, who apparently was the only one that didn´t know that the Senju was crazy about her. "Madara! I thought you weren´t going to come!"

"Tokka asked me to replace her. She thought I was the best choice for keeping your sorry ass away from trouble and I have to say that I agree with her" she tied up her headband. "Are we going or not? Uzushiogakure must be away from here."

"Not that much, we just need that…"

"Aniya, please, don´t share that kind of information with an Uchiha" the two glared at each other. "Tokka, there are many other choices between our clan that…"

"She is going, nii-san, don´t insist" she turned around. "Have a good trip"

"Indeed" Hashirama started walking, happily chatting with the only female in the little group. She was carefully listening to him, as if trying to absorb the knowledge before getting to the village hidden in the Eddies. Tobirama wondered if he should stop, but the idiot was so happy that he knew that he won´t shut up. Even if he screamed.

"Okay, let´s make a bathroom rest" announced him, interrupting the Hokage. He finally realised they were in a little inn in the road. "Ladies first"

"Say something like that again and you are dead" even after saying that, Madara walked away towards the bathroom. Hashirama stared after her with a dreamy face. His brother had the impulse to vomit, but he managed to avoid that.

"What do you see in that she male?"

"Don´t call her like that" the brunette Senju defended his beloved, even if he knew that it was somehow true. His Uchiha was very unfeminine, but he liked her like that. He just wished that the rest of the trip to Uzushiogakure was as calm as this, with his brother and dream girl ignoring each other.

-In the village-

"Calm down, they will appear in no time" Mito was reminded by Midori, who whispered by her side, holding her umbrella in the place. The redhead arranged her kimono once more, smothering the dress. Her lady in waiting was tempted to laugh, but she can hold herself, as the Lord and the Lady were present too. "It´s going to be fine"

"Yes… everything will be fine" the youngest Uzumaki told to herself, trying to convince her own mind that it was actually going to be alright. She didn´t have much time to do that, because the visits arrived at that moment. The redhead looked at the others one by one. Starting by the right, the first one had long black hair and dark coloured clothes. He was definitely an Uchiha… what was he doing there? Maybe they need someone outside of the Senju clan to testify that the alliance was made and tell the other clans. The next one was chatting with the Uchiha, an smile on his face. He had long brunette hair and a carefree attitude. The last one was a white haired male with a serious expression.

"There they are" Mito said, smothering her kimono one last time. She turned to her mother to ask her how she looked, but she was frowning while looking at them. "Mother? What´s happening?"

"What? Oh, no, nothing at all" the Lady finally awoke from her dream. Her husband got to the front, formally welcoming the visitors to his village. The Hokage was the one that shook his hands, smiling at him.

"It´s very good to be here" Hashirama said. "May I present our group? I´m the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju. This are my brother and the leader of our most important ally, the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Madara" Mito, like her parents, was surprised by his presence there. Wasn´t he the hokage´s worst enemy? "Thank you for receiving us"

"There is no problem, we were happy to make an alliance with Uzushiogakure" they continued exchanging pleasantries until the group finally arrived at the main house of the village. There they were shown their rooms. Tobirama frowned when he saw how close to his brother´s room was Madara´s. this was not something usual, a female should sleep in a complete different wing from the males.

"Okay, time for fun" the raven said, unpacking. The first stop for everyone were the bathrooms, as they were sweaty. The main family of the Uzumaki will join them, as they were waiting in the sun for some time. Hashirama and Tobirama enter to the hot waters of the big bath, noticing that it was built as if it was a hit spring. And at the other side.

"Is the water okay, princess?" Midori asked her friend, holding some of her bathing instruments as she and her mother bathed. Suddenly the door opened and someone entered. Midori saw the raven from before, not knowing how to react.

"Madara-sama!" Mito screamed, covering herself a bit. "I think you…" she was about to say something else, but her voice failed her as the Uchiha leader got inside as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "Ehhhh… ehhhh?!"

"The nerve of that…" her father was furious. No one should see the naked body of a maiden, more of a princess. He was about to get up to tell that man a few things when his daughter´s voice sounded again.

"Madara-sama, are you aware that you have… ehhhhh…"

"That I have curves? Yes, I´m a woman, I know I have some" answered Madara naturally, cleaning her skin with the towel. The hot water was making miracles on her stressed muscles for being paranoid all the way towards there.

"I beg to differ" Tobirama said in a voice loud enough for everybody else to hear. Hashirama quickly explained the situation to the Uzumaki patriarch, who simply couldn´t believe that the fearsome warrior that as on the front of the war clan was a woman. "Maybe that´s why they confused the she male for a man!"

"Shut up"

"I hope you understand, she is not the traditional clan leader, but is trustworthy enough. I can assure you that she will not cause any more trouble" Hashirama said.

"Yes, yes… please, excuse me" the redhead got out of the bathroom, tying his towel around his hips. When they were alone, the Senju brothers kept quiet. Mito tried to make an attempt at conversation with the other female, but she failed miserably.

"This is my opportunity" told Hashirama to himself, trying to find a hole in the barrier that separates the male part form the female part of the bathroom. he finally did so and prepared to take a peek at his dream girl´s body… unfortunately for him a certain Sharingan eyed kunoichi already knew what he was trying and didn´t like the idea. Calmly, Madara picked up a bucket they used to splash themselves before entering.

"That damn…" she threw the bucket to the ceiling, where it bounced and hit the Hokage dead in the head. Hashirama felt to the water, where his unamused brother stared at him, not wanting to help him. "PERVERT! Don´t you dare to peek at me!"

"Auch"

"Do you need bandages, aniya?" asked Tobirama, for once grateful with the annoying raven. At least they don´t really have a problem with the Uzumakis because the idiot peeked at the princess in the bathroom.

-Later-

"Where are my things?" Madara asked a maid with a fearful tone, making the poor girl tremble. When her order was not obeyed, then she pulled the woman closer. "I will ask this just once again, where are my…"

"In your new room, in the guest room for females" the redheaded patriarch said, appearing apparently out of nowhere. "It was a discourtesy not to inform you before you get out of the bathroom and I apologize for that, but I was overseeing the preparations for the new room" he called for more servants. "This maids will take you there to finish your preparations, please remain there until dinner is ready."

"I don´t…"

"Thank you" the albino Senju stepped in that moment, shutting her up. "My companion also thank you for adapting to the situation."

"You are welcome" the Uzumaki went away. Madara growled at his best friend´s brother and left with the servants, muttering bad words. When she arrived there, she grabbed her comb and tried to tame her hair. Tired of that, she threw it away and rummaged inside her bags. She was a very unfeminine girl, she didn´t know how to use make up or dresses or… she was definitely better on the battlefield. Grabbing the first kimono she touched, she took it out. It was the one Hashirama gifted her, which made her blush a bit. She didn´t know why she brought it in the first place. Maybe she should just put her usual attire on.

"I don´t know where it is, Midori, and I need some eyeshadows for the party" Mito was walking on the corridor.

"Well, you should ask Madara-sama" said the handmaiden. "Maybe she has some make up she could share with you"

"Do you really think so?"

"Yes"

"Well, let´s ask" they entered to the room, as the door was half opened. Mito excused herself, bowing in front the other woman. "Madara-sama, would you please…" she took a look at the older female and her thoughts about make up were forgotten. "What a beautiful kimono! Where did you buy it?"

"I… I guess it´s from Konoha… I can´t…" the Uchiha quickly lowered the cloth, feeling her cheeks burn. Oh, this was embarrassing. She shouldn´t be caught like this. "I… I was just… seeing it… I will put it in the…"

"But why don´t you wear it tonight?" Mito quickly walked towards her and took the clothing from her hands. "You will look gorgeous in it, dark colours definitely fits you. Midori, please, help me out. We are going to help Madara-sama to get ready for dinner" the mentioned was about to object, but the two women put hands to work before she could do so. Soon she was dressed in the fine clothing, the obi tightened around her waist. "It definitely suits you"

"Th… thanks?"

"Oh, right, can you lend me eyeshadows, please?" the raven was confused. What in the seven worlds was eyeshadow? She soon received her answer. Mito opened her mother´s old make up bag and pulled some out. "This are beautiful colours."

"I… well…" oh, she was definitely bad with this Lady things!

"Right, you might needs some help to be ready" she signalled to Midori, who grabbed the discarded comb and walked towards the frozen clan leader. "Let her do your hair, Midori is a genius with the comb"

"But…"

"And I will do the make up!" she clapped. It was a secret, but the princess always wanted a sister who she could dress, make up and many more. Madara was not like a sister, but she at least let her do some things the other ladies would not allow. It was as if the woman was clueless to feminine things.

"I…"

"What do you think about this style, princess?"

"Purple eyeshadows would go well with her kimono?"

"I need more help, this hair has an awful personality"

"Maybe I should use a darker tone of lipstick to make some contrast"

"Damn, this hair is like a porcupine! It doesn´t matter how much I comb them, it still spikes!"

"Stop complaining, Midori, didn´t you tell me you can tam all kinds of hair?"

"I´m doing my best effort!"

"Pearls or gold?" apparently the annoying redhead has just find the jewellery box her mother inherited to her. "Both will combine well with her attire"

"I´m too occupied with this hair"

"Gold it is!"

"Oh, for the Sage" Madara thought, letting the other two do as they pleased with her. It was easier than telling them to get off. She closed her eyes a bit, trying to get some sleep until the damn dinner was ready.

-In the dinner-

"Thank you for your attendance, Hokage-sama, Tobirama-sama" the Uzumaki leader welcomed the Senju brothers to the dinner. Some important people of Uzushiogakure were also in attendance. "Let me introduce you to everyone in here" he started presenting them to people. Sometimes they would get caught in short conversations, but mostly they passed from person to another fairly quickly. "All the…"

"Is that the princess? Who is the lady who is with her?" whispers were starting to sound in the dinning room while the men gawked in amazement at the beautiful redhead and her female companion. Tobirama looked at the door and froze for a moment. Was she…

"Is that the she male?" he pointed with his finger. He couldn´t believe that the beautiful maiden he had in front of him with a pretty dark kimono and a fairly simple but great hairstyle was the Madara he knew. "Where the hell did she get the dress? Forget it, since when does she wears make up?"

"She has a few kimono, don´t you know?" Hashirama said, internally congratulating himself. Madara sure looked amazing in that dress, more than he imagined. Soon he began to wonder how she would look without anything at all and had to use all his willpower to control his hard on.

"She does?" the albino suddenly was scared. "How do you know?"

"I asked her when we were on the way" he lied, calming his brother. "And as for the make up… I didn´t know either" he thought about it. "Maybe Mito helped her"

"Yes that should be" the Uzumaki patriarch was a little bit away, chatting with one of the important guests. He saw the Shodaime looking at his daughter´s direction and smiled, thinking that he achieve what he wanted. His wife, by his side, shook her head slightly. It wasn´t her daughter who was looked at by that man.

"All our dreams are about to become true"

"I wouldn´t be so sure, anata" she spoke, frowning. He questioned her why, but she shut her lips up. "I´m just telling you so you wouldn´t give yourself a disappointing surprise."

"Why should I? Our Mito is perfect, he must have noticed that"

"I don´t think he considers her perfect… or even as a candidate to wife" were her last words for the night. Her daughter, on the other side, chatting friendly with the other girls in the room, something that relegated Madara a bit. She started walking away from the girls, feeling out of place between them.

"Are you enjoying the party, miss?" someone asked. She turned and saw Hashirama giving her a cup of sake. Tired of the party, the Uchiha drank it. "It seems that no"

"It´s boring" another thing that the brunette liked about his raven beauty, her sincerity. It was something that charmed him since they were little. The way Madara spoke, with confidence, saying the cold truth... was something he admired and cherished.

"How bad, and we are the special guests" he laughed. Then something came to his mind, a way to escape boredom and be with his beloved at the same time. "How about you coming to the garden with me? There is a beautiful view. The moon shines over the eddies, making them appear as if they were made of silver…"

"Hashirama, you are not a poet, don´t even try to do that" she smirked amused, then took his hand, making him freeze. "Come, let´s go to the garden. I´m dying to escape the girl´s talk and the pretentious males"

Hello! Here is the second chapter. What do you think about that? Tobi surely didn´t expect that. Review!


	3. Chapter 3

"Thank you for inviting us to Konoha, Hashirama-sama. I hope this visit strengthens the ties between our clans" the Uzumaki head saluted the Hokage after he received him and his family in the gates of Konoha. As always the Brunette was all smiles and sunshine, making the girls around him blush and more. Mito was not immune to this, which Midori noticed quickly. She would get a lot of fun out of teasing her friend when they were alone. "Are we going to stay in the Hokage Manor?"

"No, I thought you may be uncomfortable with all the movement around the house from people carrying important documents to my office" he continued with his chat while they walked around. "Besides, it would be very inappropriate for a young lady to sleep so near a man who is not from her immediate family"

"You are a gentleman, Hashirama-sama" Mito blushed a bit when her father answered. She liked this man, a lot. Maybe his father´s attempts to marry her off to him weren´t going to end as badly as she thought. They finally arrived at the hotel. It was truly a luxurious one, it even had dinner ready.

"Soon, you will see" her father announced. "Soon all our dreams will become true. You will be married to the most powerful ninja in the Land of Fire and procure our little country great prosperity"

"I wouldn´t be so sure, my husband" answered Lady Uzumaki before biting one of the manju in the most educated way. the younger redhead then realised that her mother was looking at her with a really sad face, something that wasn´t accord to the environment. Maybe she was afraid of losing her when she marries? Should she talk to her? "My dear Mito, don´t get your hopes up too much, I would hate to see you hearthbroken."

"Why would she be hearthbroken? The Hokage has been very gentle with her, he obviously was looking at her the night of the dinner, he even danced with her" the Lord started talking. "He was courting her, I know it"

"My dear, with all due respect, you men are hopeless idiotic in things like love" the woman continued. "I´m sure he was only being gentle with her, nothing more" she looked at her child again. "You, my darling, are too young to comprehend this, but I want to warn you before something bad happens."

"What could go wrong? I´m sure he likes me"

"As I say, you are young, girl" she stared out of the window. "There is still much more for you to learn. Men are not so easy to understand, child"

"But I…" her mother ended the conversation there. She was right with that, as she started getting angry at the older woman. Her father, on the other side of the table made as if his wife haven´t spoken and continued making plans for that alliance he was sure was going to happen when his daughter married the Hokage. Midori listened carefully, worried about her friend. She didn´t want to pinch the princess dreams, but the maid remembered the party al Ushio now that the Lady brought that in. She saw Hashirama Senju looking at Uchiha Madara… that was true adoration. She continued wondering how she should break out the news to the younger girl, when Mito rose from her seat. "Let´s go, Midori"

"Hai, hime-sama" she bowed, remembering that she should be so familiar with the princess when they were in public. The clan leader would consider that in insubordination. "My Lord, My Lady, may I retire?"

"Go, servant" the man made a sign with his hand, not giving her a look. They walked quickly to the noblewoman´s room, where both girls sat down to talk. The maid was trying to figure it out how to tell her friend that the man she was in love with already had someone, but something stopped her. She didn´t want to crush her dreams.

"Did you see him, Midori-chan?" Mito continued talking, not doing anything to soothe the internal turmoil that was inside her best friend. "How he was looking at me?" yes, she saw. She mistook that too, Hashirama was only being gentle. "He is truly interested in me!"

"Y… yes… ehhhhhh… Mito-chan, I think you should hear your mother" the servant stopped combing her hair for a moment. "She is older and wiser in this things…"

"Come on, don´t be a party pooper, I know he likes me" the older one felt bad for not telling her that he didn´t. "He wouldn´t have invited us to come here if he didn´t. I think…" she giggled a bit. "I think he may even ask for my hand as my father was saying. Maybe that´s why he wanted me to be here."

"Mito-chan, don´t rush things…"

"I know, I know, but it was a marriage interview, no? His visit to Uzushiogakure last time we saw each other?" she smiled, happy. "Oh, my God! I don´t have a kimono for the occasion! All I have are those plain old kimonos!" she turned around. "Tomorrow let´s go to the market and buy a new one, okay? I want to be ready for my special day!"

"Mito-chan" she truly felt bad in that moment. There was nothing worse for her than lying to a very good friend. But she was so happy that she could bare herself to bring her back to the ground. "Okay, I… I will go shopping with you tomorrow. The Lord surely will let you some money to buy another kimono for the festival and… maybe I can ask someone about the best places for shopping."

"That would be awesome! I knew I can count on you!"

"Sure" she answered, feeling a little bit nervous. Maybe in the future her friend would stop thinking like that… hell, she was not sure they were still going to be friends after all of this ended. "I will be going after I prepare the chimney."

"Leave it like that, it´s a warm night after all" Midori bowed in front of the princess and ran away. She stopped by a window in her way to the servant´s rooms and stared at the moon, which was full.

"It´s not easy, no?" another voice talked to her. She jumped and moved, only to see a fully armoured kunoichi, sitting on the roof. "Did I scare you? Sorry" she moved towards her. "I´m Senju Tokka, by the way. I´m the chief of the security during your stay in the Land of Fire"

"Then why did you just show yourself?"

"Because of the conversation you just have with the princess" the brunette sighed. "I know everything. It´s difficult to tell a friend that the boy she has a crush in doesn´t like her, but it´s worse to give her wings. Truly, you should just tell her that you saw Hashirama along with Madara somewhere and save her some pain."

"But… she is so happy and…"

"I know, but it´s better than being publically rejected after she made so big illusions on the man." The other woman crossed her arms. "Mito-sama is a good girl and she is pretty, I´m sure she is going to find a man someday, but that man is not my cousin. Since he was little he only had eyes for… you know who."

"Poor hime-sama…"

"You don´t have to be so formal, I know you are a good friend of the princess" Tokka smiled to her, then moved. She then stood over Midori. "Can I tell you a secret?" she whispered something into her ears and Midori´s eyes went completely open. "And now you know"

"Are… are you sure?" a nod. "I… I will talk to the princess as soon as I can"

"Good, it´s for the better"

-In the Uchiha compound-

"I don´t have anything to wear" Madara said to all her kimonos, sprayed all over the room. Since when she cared if she had a kimono or not for special occasions? Never… but now it was a little bit different. For some reason, she enjoyed the attention she received in the last party and the compliments to her looks… that was the first time she ever got those. "Maybe I should just use the one Hashirama gave me" she grabbed the kimono and put it over her body. Then she remembered that the Uzumaki clan leader was going to be there. If she repeated the kimono, it would be like saying to those idiots that the Uchiha clan didn´t have any money. Better dead than that. "Okay, tomorrow I´m buying a new one for the festival" she promised herself before getting to bed. While she was sleeping she suddenly had a dream…

"Hey! Madara, let´s play!" Hashirama, her only friend in the entire world, called her. Throwing a bit of water towards her, the Senju laughed. "Or are you afraid of a little water messing your make up, Lady?"

"You are going to pay for that" she rushed into the water. "I will show you that a girl can beat you in everything!"

"No!" they sprayed each other in the river, ending completely wet. She got out of it laughing and laid into the floor, resting under the sun. Hashirama laid besides her, happy after the game they enjoyed like normal kids. "Why do you always sunbath after playing in the river?"

"Because if my mom finds me all wet in the compound, she is going to scream at me" the girl rolled to face him. "She already is accepting that she has a completely unfeminine daughter, I don´t want to give her more reasons to hate me about. And father… well, he wouldn´t care. They didn´t care about anything I do."

"I think they do, if you say they scream at…"

"No, it´s just that they are careful that I couldn´t mess with the family honour more than I already do" she moved a bit. "As they think I will never get married…"

"Why?"

"Just look at me, you think that I can attract a man?" she blushed a bit. Yes, she knew even then that she wasn´t the prettiest girl… not even a pretty one according to her clansmen, but the idiot didn´t seem to get it.

"You are gorgeous" he said, really meaning it. "The most gorgeous girl I have ever seen"

"Don´t try to make me feel better"

"I´m not!" the idiot smiled one of those bright and sincere smiled she was so accustomed to by now and always made her feel better. "In fact, if we were older, I would ask you to marry me right away!"

"Don´t joke, who is going to want me?"

"Me!" the stupid boy got up and grabbed her hands, making her blush a bit. "Yes, let´s get married when we are older, okay?"

"Wha… what?!"

"One day… when we are older… let´s get married, okay?" she was paralyzed. It was the first time a boy told her she was pretty, even if it was his best friend. She didn´t know what to do… until the idiot tried to kiss her and he got a slap on his face that will sure be printed on his skin all week. She went away fuming, not caring about her drenched clothes. "Madara, wait! I didn´t mean to disrespect you!"

"Go to hell!" she opened her eyes that moment. It was still too early for waking up, but that memory that came back to her in her dreams disturbed her a bit. It was a bad omen, she was sure of it. She shook it off after a bit. "Who would ever want me? Besides, I have already decided that I will stay single. To hell with those idiots in the council and everybody."

-The next day-

"Look, Midori-chan!" Mito signalled the sixth kimono stand in the market they have visited. Midori was still looking for a way to stop her and tell her the ugly news, but she was practically dragged along the streets while the redhead try on all the kimonos in the whole market. "Hey! How much is that one?"

"It´s…" suddenly another client got out of the proving room. The maid felt her hearth fell to the floor when she saw the dark haired female in a very pretty green kimono, with her hair in a ponytail. "Oh, you are ready? Do you like it, miss?"

"I don´t know if it´s really for me… I… don´t feel good in it" Madara looked at her body from different angles. "Maybe it´s not the right one for me"

"Oh, Madara-sama, isashiburi" Midori saw in astonishment and fear when her princess went to great the clan leader. Later that night… she should explain it to her right now! Take her away and talk to her! She couldn´t leave her like that! "What a coincidence. No, Midori-chan?"

"Eh? Hai…"

"Are you looking for a kimono for tonight?"

"Ahhh? Yeah" Madara blushed a bit at being see in those clothes. She was never one for dressing in that way. she was… okay, she admitted it, she was a tomboy. For her she could attend that stupid festival in her training clothes. But, then again… the honour of the Uchiha… "But I couldn´t find the right one."

"I can be a but difficult, I´m going to give you that" Mito take a look at the kimonos. "Maybe we should see together an opine, that surely will help"

"Ehhhhhh" the clan leader and maid were doubting.

"Awesome!" the princess grabbed her hand. "I don´t have many friends and another one doesn´t hurt me… I always wanted to have friends to buy with!" she hugged her, leaving the raven in shock. "It´s going to be awesome, come on" the continue their journey through the market. "Look at there!"

"There…" Mito got really caught in some chat with the stand clerk over a pink and feminine kimono that really wasn´t Madara´s style. She smiled though, the princess will surely look good in something like that.

"Madara-sama?" the maid addressed her, making the raven a little bit uncomfortable. She used to have a lady in waiting, but that was before she was clan head. And the woman was usually so shy that didn´t utter a word in her presence the three years she was her servant. This one surely should have it worse, as princess Mito was raised to be a lady, unlike her. "I don´t want to disrespect you, my Lady, but… can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you currently… accepting marriage proposals?" the Uchiha looked at her as if she just sprouted a second head. "I´m sorry! I didn´t mean to be…"

"No, no, easy" the raven moved her hands, trying to calm her down. "Easy" when Midori was again in her feet, they continued their talk. "No, I´m not accepting marriage proposals… well, no one has given me one in my entire life" she sighed. "Besides, I´m not the kind of girl that gets married."

"You… haven´t get any marriage proposals? Not even once?" Midori looked nervously around. If Tokka was right, then the Uchiha was up for a big surprise that night when the fireworks start.

"Well… once, but I don´t think that counts as a marriage proposal. It was a joke from Hashirama when we were kids and played in a nearby river" she frowned at the dream she had last night. "That idiot… we were what? Nine? And he then got on saying that I am pretty even though I know that at that age I was easily mistaken by a boy."

"Easily… mistaken for a…" Then… the Hokage had this crush like… for forever? Pretty sure that was the case. Oh, poor Mito. "Madara-sama…"

"Yes, I ended up beating him up over that" she sweat dropped. Poor Hokage-sama. "Not that he didn´t deserve that, but even I felt bad after that" her expression suddenly became sadistic. "If he pulls something like that again…" her fist collided with her palm. "He will know what pain is."

"I… think you made it very clear"

"Of course"

"Hey! Mina!" the princess called them from the stand. "I found some pretty impressive kimonos that will fit you well!"

"Mito-hime…"

"Come on, let´s not make the princess wait" Madara sighed and prepared herself, preparing herself in her mind, as she did ever before the battlefield. It was ever like that before going shopping… with her mother and with others. Mito lifted a pretty black kimono with some silver and gold applications.

"This will fit you great! Specially tonight!"

"Yes… tonight…" Midori shuddered. She has to talk to her, fast. Madara sighed and, with the expression of a soldier ready for battle, went to the probation room. In the end, it wasn´t too bad, the kimono was pretty and she liked it. And now that she had the dress… she need to figure it out how to use make up and a comb. Well, if there was a comb that could tame her unruly hair.

"It´s a little bit late, if I return now to the hotel I won´t have the time to prepare for the festival" commented Mito, looking at the sun. "Madara-sama, do you think I could change in your house? The Uchiha compound is closer to here than the hotel."

"Sure, why not? I will need some help with taming my stupid hair for that festival" she passed a hand through her bangs.

"Consider it done, Midori-chan is the best hairdresser in the world" the princess complimented her maid. "And I can do your make up, just like in Uzushiogakure. It´s going to be a girl´s night out."

"Ummmm… Mito… hime-sama…"

"Don´t worry about father, Midori, he is not going to reprimand you if I explain to him what´s happening really. He will surely have some words with me, but… well, it´s okay" she pushed the two other girls towards the fan compound. "Let´s get changed or we will arrive late for a quick visit to the game stands."

"What?" in the house, Madara was forced to bare with the torture that was preparing for a special occasion. Hell, she has never had this much trouble when attending to a festival. Her hair was pulled by the servant girl, who was a little bit angry at what her existence was going to make to her dear friend.

"Ready" Midori said, cleaning her brush to begin with her princess hair. "Hold it still, hime-sama" she lowered her head. "I need to talk to you."

"Not now, Midori-chan, I´m trying to do my nails"

"But it´s important"

"Later, later. For now I just want to be perfect for my future husband" the other girl rolled her eyes, wondering if she should just shut up. The princess surely didn´t want to be warned… but she was such a good friend!

"Believe me, it´s…"

"Later"

-That night-

"Come on, you look great" Tokka said to her cousin, who was waiting too much time to get out of his room. Tobirama, by her side, crossed his arms. He too thought that the idiot spent much time in there, making their important guests wait. He was about to get inside of the room to drag him out, when a whine came from the inside. Great, his brother was in his depressive moods again.

"Come out of the room or I will drag you out this moment, you depressive freak" the albino moved to grab the door, but his brother was faster. The depressed man didn´t look fine at all, in fact, he was about to faint.

"Tobi, I´m too nervous…"

"Nervous?" did he found out that her was going to get engaged? Or was it one of his usual depressed moods over something stupid? "Why could you be so nervous?"

"Because… because… forget it, I´m going" he suddenly snapped out of it, looking determined. "I´m ready" his earthy yukata was really impressive. "But… I…"

"Stop being ridiculous and get in there, the Uzumaki family is waiting" the younger male grabbed him and started dragging his brother out. They shouldn´t make the guests of honour wait, specially if they were their future in laws. Yes, Tobirama was sure that the princess was going to marry his aniya. With such a beautiful girl around, Madara shouldn´t even be able to cross his mind. In the middle of the way, he released him. "Sorry we made you wait."

"Oh, it wasn´t much time" the patriarch of the redheaded clan answered them, dressed in a traditional yukata. "My wife just ended her preparations and my daughter… where is she?" he asked a servant. "She isn´t here."

"Do you need for us to send someone to find her?"

"Last time I saw her, she was in her way to the Uchiha compound with Madara-sama after buying some kimonos" Tokka distractedly said. "I will go to find her now."

"I believe it´s no longer necessary" the Uzumaki man smiled, pointing at something behind them. Hashirama turned around and his eyes went wide. Madara was there with the Uzumaki princess and her servant, who was carrying some things for her. If the raven was a beauty without the paraphernalia, she was a complete babe now that she was dressed and arranged. "Hello, my child"

"Hello, father" she bowed her head a bit. "I hope you apologize my tardiness. I ended my kimono hunting late and went to Madara-sama´s house to prepare instead of the hotel. She said she didn´t mind. Don´t you, Madara-sama?"

"Of course, it was a pleasure" she smiled at Tobirama´s astonished face. "Thank you likewise for helping me with my make up."

"It was okay, you have very beautiful eye shadows"

"Ladies" Hashirama interrupted the conversation. "Shall we go?"

"Of course" the next few hours, the Hokage chatted with everyone, being gentle and educated with all the people around him. The princess giggled every time he asked her something, but the girl behind him was frowning. Mito didn´t understand that, wasn´t her friend glad for her? She should be.

"I think it´s time for us to take our seats to enjoy the fireworks" the brunette Shodaime said and all the group started walking towards the Hokage monument. The man suddenly grabbed his best friend´s hand and made her turn around, showing a confused face. "Come with me"

"The riverside?" asked Madara when they arrived at the place her friend wanted to take them. "It´s nostalgic, how many years have passed since we played here."

"Yeah, too many" his cheeks turned light pink. "Do you remember what I said about marriage here?"

"Your little joke, no?" she shook her head. "Yes, I do"

"Joke?" so she thought he was joking, eh? Well, he was dead serious. And now he was a man, a man that wanted to ask for her hand. "But… talking seriously… are planning on… getting married soon?"

"No, I´m never going to marry" the woman answered. "I´m going to stay single forever"

"You… you…" he tried to collect himself. "But if you have to marry… what would be your type of man?"

"Hummmm, honest, gracious… maybe someone like you, that could comprehend me" he continued. "Oh, wait, you are an idiot, forget it" but he couldn´t forget it. He was too immerse in his world of bunnies and cotton candy to do it. "Really, you are an idiot, but at the same time the only that was ever able to see through me, to know me. You are a great friend."

"Th… thank you" the sky suddenly was filled with light. The fireworks have started. He got closer and sat down near her, even daring putting an arm around her body. "Do you like the firworks?"

"They are not bad… Madara-chan"

"Don´t push your luck, Bakarama"

-In another part-

"Where is Hashirama-sama?" asked the Uzumaki patriarch. He was hoping that the Hokage would ask him for his daughter´s hand in marriage after the fireworks, but he suddenly disappeared… he didn´t know what was happening. "I expected him to watch the show with us in the Hokage monument."

"Yes, I expected that too" Tobirama looked around, worried for his brother. Then he saw… "there he is" he signalled his aniya, who was walking towards someone. "Maybe he didn´t saw us."

"Call him then"

"I don´t think it´s us who he is searching for, anata" the Lady of the Uzumaki said, with a expressionless face. Her daughter lifted her face to see her, but couldn´t see anything else than her beloved fiancé (according to her father and her mind). "My child… please try to keep your composure when…"

"Mother, what´s going on?"

"Hideki-sama? Uchiha Hideki-sama?" Hashirama approached an Uchiha elder, the head of the Uchiha council. He lifted his head, along with his wife. The man was curious as to why the Hokage would talk to him. If he had business with the clan, he would call their clan leader, not the Uchiha council. The man had a serious expression, determined too. "Great to see you, I wanted to talk to you"

"Why, my Lord? I don´t think we have ever talked to each other" the man answered, his wife silent and curious about what was going on. The most powerful man in Konoha was talking to a complete stranger, leaving his guests of honour alone. And of them was the Uzumaki princess, who he was going to marry according to the rumours.

"I have heard that you were an influential man in your clan as well as an old friend from Uchiha Tajima" he started talking. "usually, I would have talked about this matter to him, but as he is no longer between us…" he made silence for a bit. "I wanted to ask for Madara´s hand in marriage" this shocked everyone around here, even the Uchihas. "I didn´t know who to go to if it wasn´t her father, but I thought you would be the best choice."

"I… well…" the man was still shaken by the sudden proposal to his clan head. It was Madara, for fuck´s sake! Uchiha Madara! She was not feminine at all! She was probably the most masculine woman out there too! No one in the clan thought she was ever going to get married! His wife suddenly awoke him with a hit on the gut. "I… I think you are going to be a fine in law for us. We accept the marriage proposal."

"What…" Mito felt her hearth breaking. She had already make some illusions with him and now… now he was proposing to another girl? No. this… no. then she felt the hand of her mother on her arms.

"That´s what I wanted to tell you, my girl" she said with a sad voice. "When he was talking to you, he was only being gentle. She… he looked at her with such adoration in his eyes. It was impossible to pass that."

"Why her? I thought…"

"She is probably just as oblivious as you… even more" the woman embraced her daughter. "I´m sorry it has to be you, but you have to understand that sometimes the world isn´t as you wanted it to be" the Uzumaki matriarch started walking, passing by Midori, who had a sad face and a handkerchief. "You knew it too?"

"My Lady… I didn't mean any harm, but someone like the princess won´t listen to me" the maid continued. "I heard Senju Tokka talking to someone that the Hokage was planning on taking the Uchiha clan head and princess as his wife. I wanted to warn her, but… I´m just a simple servant."

"I see" the woman passed by her side and continued walking towards the hotel while her husband tried to tell where he was wrong. Midori gave them another look before following the other women.

"I… why…" Tobirama was too trying to find out where his brilliant plan failed. The albino was then shook awake from his daydream by his cousin, who was smiling at him. "You know this was going to happen, no?"

"It was inevitable" she answered. "Your brilliant plan failed… because your brother didn´t have eyes for anyone that isn´t that girl" she patted his back. "Cheer up! I know you hate her clan and all the things, but she isn´t that bad. And maybe… maybe… this is just what you need to stop being such a racist idiot."

"This isn´t happening."

"Easy there, Tobi-nii, it´s not going to be that bad"

"That bad? That bad?! I will tell you what is going to be" he breathed in. "HELL!"

-In the hotel room-

"Mito? Princess, can I get in?" Midori only received anguished cries, so she got into the room. There, she saw her friend crying in the bed, sobbing, still in her kimono. "Oh, dear! I´m so sorry! You shouldn´t be…"

"I´m an idiot" the princess blew her nose, lifting herself from the bed. "I was so… like a child… like a little girl having her first crush on an elite jounin… not me at all" she cleaned her face a bit, trying to calm down and stop the tears. "I should have noticed that… that he wasn´t interested in me in that way… that I was just… a guest…"

"I´m sorry, my dear" Midori pass a hand through her head.

"You knew it, no?" asked the younger girl.

"Yes, I knew it" she continued caressing her. "I tried to tell you, but you didn´t want to hear me and I couldn´t force you to… or I was too afraid of ruining your dreams. You were so happy while it lasted."

"I cheated myself into believing that, it´s not your fault" Mito reassured her friend. "I… as I said, I should have noticed. My mom and you tried to warn me, you tried to warn me that it wasn´t my destiny to marry that man." She sighed. "I suppose I´m single again"

"You were never taken"

"Yes, but… never mind" she still felt pain, but she would bear with it until it healed. "You know, I find it funny"

"What?"

"Just guess what Madara-sama will do to him when she finds out" this brought a malicious smile to the princesses face. "That will be such an enjoyable show"


	4. Chapter 4

"What was I misunderstanding? Why didn´t he…" the Uzumaki clan patriarch was rambling while he walked in front of his wife and some other members of his clan, all of them as disappointed as him. They all wished for their princess to be married off to the Hokage and were so sure that they were going to achieve that… the women, for their part, were calm. The Lady especially. "Why are you so calm? The best marriage proposal for our daughter has just vanished before our eyes!"

"He was never interested in our daughter in that way, my dear" the woman answered matter of factly. Other dams around her were as calm as the Lady. They noticed right away that the Shodaime was interested in other young woman, a very eligible young woman, and didn´t abridged false hopes.

"How can you be so calm?! The best candidate for husband has just slipped from our child´s hands and you just stay there?! I don´t know where this failed, I was so sure that she had him! But…" he turned to his wife. "But you never believed it… why did you…?"

"My dear husband, a woman, specially one with experience as I, can tell when a man is looking at another woman with the eyes of love. I could tell from the first moment that the Senju boy was not courting our Mito, but just being polite for political reasons. The eyes he made when looking at the Uchiha princess otherwise… it was clear that he already made his choice."

"The Lady speaks with the truth, milord. A woman can indeed see this things, unlike a man" one of the present councillors added, bowing his head. "It´s a womanly ability we cannot hope to match."

"Yes, yes…" the clan head finally felt into a chair, where he managed to calm himself down. "Now we have to decide our next course of action. Mito might not become the wife of the Hokage, but that doesn´t mean all our efforts in coming here should go to waste. There are… other things we can do."

"What are you talking about, milord?"

"My dear daughter made good friends with the Uchiha princess, now the fiancé of the Shodaime. Perhaps we can gain some benefits from that" he rubbed his hands. "She can introduce her to important clan heads, heirs and ninjas of status, including her successor as Uchiha clan head" his spouse rolled her eyes. He was already planning other marriage? How desperate. "and if all that fails, Tobirama Senju is still a suitable candidate for husband."

"You speak with the truth" another of the old councillors talked, not getting up from his seat. "But for that to happen, the princess has to keep cultivating her friendship with the bride to be despite the crossed feelings she might have for her."

"My wife will talk to her and discuss the matter with her highness. I believe that once she overcame the anger over her broken hearth, she will be found level headed enough to play her role" the Lady once again rolled her eyes. Why were men so stupid in things of the hearth? A broken hearth was not healed from morning to night, that takes time. However, he was right in one thing. Their daughter was a princess, and like one, she had to be level headed enough to play her role in favour of their people.

"I will talk to her tomorrow, first thing in them morning" her husband opened his mouth to tell her to talk to the girl immediately, but she silenced him with a hand. "Tomorrow, I said. She needs tonight to recover"

"As you wish, my dear" meanwhile, other clan was having a conversation similar to this, just more… surprised. Hideki communicated in a very rushed clan meeting the councillor asked for as soon as he returned home. The ladies in the room were looking at each other, not knowing what to say.

"Madara… I can´t believe it" another elder said, dragging his wife while he walked from side to side of the room. She was getting exasperated, but managed to stay silent. "Between all women… Madara managed to attract the best candidate to husband? What did she do?"

"You know, I heard some rumours about he courting her" one of the younger women said, remembering something. "Someone saw him buying women´s kimono and going to her house after that"

"He visited a maiden without supervision? That´s unheard of!"

"But nothing happened and he is willing to marry her, there is nothing to be worried about. Rumours will die soon after the engagement is made public, the people in Konoha would just assume that there was a chaperone inside and we allowed him to court our clan princess, just kept it in secret because the Senju wanted him to marry the Uzumaki girl" the one that talked nodded. "Don´t correct it and everything will be alright."

"I beg to differ" the eldest woman in the room talked, a stern look on her face. "Our clan head can be a beautiful woman… with the proper beauty treatment. But it is concerning that she never received the same preparations that our girls. She doesn´t have the knowledge to become a wife or to administer a household… nor anything" she gave them a glare, which made the men cringle. "And this cannot be. The pride of the Uchiha clan is on stake, we can´t give away an unfit bride."

"Surely" suddenly they were aware of the problem. "We thought she would never marry and gave her the same instruction we give most boys. She doesn´t know how to do the simplest of house works, which a married woman should dutifully do"

"We should amend them immediately" the oldest Lady in the room. "Nanako-san, you were the closest to Nanami-sama when she lived. Because of that, it´s your duty and honour to prepare her daughter for marriage in her stead" the mentioned woman nodded. "Don´t worry, we will help you with this duty, you won´t be alone."

"What concerns me is that Madara-sama never showed any kind of interest in womanly activities or marriage, I couldn´t dare to think what the news of being engaged would cause in her" she cringed. "The reaction will be anything but unfavourable for us."

"Then we will have to contain her" the matriarch said with iron determination. "That girl knew that this could happen someday and it´s our duty to give our stemmed Hokage a good wife." The lady got up. "Leave her to me, I know well how to tame a wild girl."

"As you wish"

"On other notice, I have heard that she has been seeing the Uzumaki princess. Is that true?" a young raven woman nodded, having seen them in front of the kimono store. "From now on I want the interaction between them limited. Only the Sage knows what the Uzumaki will try now that their hopes of engaging their princess to the Shodaime failed."

"Do you think they would try to sabotage us?"

"Hell has no fury as a scorned woman, remember that well"

-The next day-

"Good morning" Madara growled when she was woken up by an overly happy older woman, she tried to return to sleep, after all she planned to train later, but apparently Nananko-san had other ideas. "Come on, darling wake up. We have much to do, starting with a change in your dresser. I have so much to teach you…"

"What?" the clan head started rousing. Since when the women of her clan wanted to teach her something? They always tried to stay as far away from the "wild girl". In fact, the only one who tried to teach her something was her mother. And it was only so she knew how to cure her own injuries in the battlefield and mend her clothing. Otherwise… well, she was more close to her father and brothers for her battle prowess.

"Yes…" her surrogate aunt sat down next to her. "You see… last night something changed, something that we haven´t thought would ever happen" the younger Uchiha´s face was becoming more and more angry, so she decided to speed up. "Someone asked for your hand in marriage."

"WHA?!"

"Yes, I couldn´t believe it when I hear it either" the woman made a melodramatic gesture. "We all were surprised, even the council. But the proposal came from a very good party, so they agreed immediately, so… you are now engaged."

"They… I…" a growl of anger, which made fear creep in the poor female´s soul. "Who was the man that asked to marry me?"

"Ehhhh… the Shodaime" the younger raised an eyebrow. Really? Hashirama, her childhood best friend and confident, asking for her hand? That has to be wrong in many ways… but at the same time… didn´t he ask her about marriage the day before? Yes, she remembered that. So he was asking because of that… Even more rage felt her hearth and she got up from bed, changing in a second and walking to the door. "Where… where are you going?"

"Where do you think? To go find that idiot and give him a piece of my mind" the woman sighed before falling to the ground in defeat. Meanwhile, an enraged Uchiha wandered through the village, scaring all the people out of their minds. Children hid behind their mothers and people got out of her way. she finally reached the place she was searching for, the Hokage Tower. The woman practically ripped the door from it´s place, leaving it on the floor before ascending. The door to the Hokage´s office was kicked down and she entered, noticing right away that Hashirama went to work in his battle armour. Good, so the idiot actually had a brain cell.

"He… hello, Madara" tried to salute her the Shodaime, trembling a bit. He has never seen a person so angry in his life, let alone an angry woman. That was actually the scariest part of this meeting. "Ho… how are you today?"

"Fine… if not for an idiot that went around my back to ask for my hand in marriage" she growled, walking towards him, engulfed in fire… at least in his eyes. He thanked for his wisdom in wearing his battle armour to work and quickly walked away from his so important paperwork to avoid it getting incinerated. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I… let´s bring this conversation to a less flammable place" he ran away before hearing the answer, knowing that she would follow him to kill him. The brunette finally stopped in the training grounds, his fiancé appeared in front of him in an instant. "Look… don´t kill me before I explain myself, okay?"

"I´m all ears… for now" she tapped on her arms, letting him know that the time he was living was borrowed and very VERY short. "Come on, explain yourself"

"I… I have always been in love with you" he blurted out, happy to finally being able to voice his feelings. His female best friend raised an eyebrow. So the stupid Senju always fancied her, eh? Always and she without knowing. Well, now she knew and she was going to slap those feelings away from him with a good right hook. "I wished to ask for your hand for so much time now… I even proposed the truce between our clans just so I can get your clan´s approbation to marry you"

"Yes? Because I think you actually excluded me from that proposal… intentionally" the Uchiha made emphasis in the last word.

"Well, I asked you about who will you marry yesterday and you answered that maybe a person like me…"

"That was an hypothetical situation, you fool! I wasn´t talking seriously!" she attacked first, knocking over the door of the training ground and setting it on fire. Hashirama looked back in worry, now fully aware that despite being here they were a treat to the village. He then started running again, guiding her as far away from populated area as he could. "Come back here, you idiot! Stay in one place so I can kill you!"

"No so you can harm someone!" she sighed and followed him at a slower pace. He was right, they could harm someone if they stayed there. The two finally arrived at a place that was great to talk… or to fight. "Madara, please, I don´t want to harm you. I love you, I will truly devote my life to make you happy."

"I don´t need a male to make me happy" she said, getting into fighting stance. She has been a clan head and a military leader for so much time that she practically forgot she was a female… or had until recently. But, obviously, that didn´t matter. "I am not losing my freedom or my position."

"Madara…"

"And I am not marrying you!" her Sharingan was spinning wildly, taking a scroll out of her clothes and preparing for a very serious fight, armour and everything. Hashirama, for his part, took out his katana and secured his scroll to his back. "I will regain the right to do whatever I want with my life this moment, the only way I could now that the council decided to hand me over to you. Sorry, but you have to die here."

"That´s an archaic tradition, you know" the Shodaime raised an eyebrow, knowing he was going to have to fight over the right to marry the woman he loved… and to keep his live, because he liked to be alive, thank you very much. "And you know what is going to happen if I win?"

"You don´t have change" she smiled. "And I know. If I lose and am still alive, then I will marry you. Win-win situation… for one of us."

"I seriously don´t want to do this…"

"Too bad… I do!" she launched herself to combat. Hashirama dodged and moved his hands, forming a forest with the firm intention to grab his wayward fiancé and held her still until she gave in… which would take a lot of time, as she was the most stubborn person in the whole world. Unfortunately she chopped the weeds with her scythe and launched forward, Susanoo forming around herself. "BATTLE ME, GODDAMMIT!"

"I don´t want to hurt you!" he said, nervously. Madara was the love of his life… why the hell did he felt for such a woman? Well, she was the only one that truly understood him. and she was so pretty in his eyes. "Why couldn´t you understand?! I don´t want you to renounce anything! I just want to make you happy!"

"As if I need…" she pulled out a scroll and bit her hand to use a summon. "a man to make me happy!" a roar was heard and the Kyuubi no Kitsune appeared. He sweat dropped. Seriously? She could summon a Bijuu to battle? Damn. "Yes, even if you were living in peace, your arms at home, I continued to grow stronger. I am the Shinobi Demon after all!"

"You liked that name too much, you know"

"It´s better than the new one" she shook her shoulders. Hashirama had to agree, whoever that called her the Battling Maiden surely didn´t know her… and was going to be given a sound beating. "Where was I...? Oh, yes! I was going to kill you!"

"With a Bijuu? I thought you were going to use your Susanoo or something like that" he commented, as Madara never liked to use summons in battle, confident on her own strength.

"Ah, I forgot" she covered the orange furred vulpine in a battle armour, she herself in the headpiece. Shit, he surely should have kept his mouth shut. "Thank you" she smiled… yes, him and his big mouth. "Say goodbye to live… BECAUSE YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY AGAIN!"

"Madara, please, listen to me…"

"Less talk and more fight. Kyuubi, attack!" the female commanded and Hashirama made some hand signs. A giant wood statue appeared, with thousands of big hands ready to strike at the fox. The Bijuu charged one of his bombs (inwardly thinking that this was so familiar for some reason) and fired. Hashirama jumped and dodged, seeing the sun getting down. Great, he spent a complete day out of the office. Tobirama was going to kill him.

"Let´s finish this before he got the idea to tie me down to my dam chair" he created another wood creature, centring in the battle. He had no opportunity if he continued thinking about meaningless stuff. "Come here, Madara! I will show you what I can do! And in the end… you will marry me!"

"I your dreams, asshole" she put her hands on her hips. "Kyuubi, another one. Destroy that damn wood statue as if it is a china vase… NOW!"

"Yes… let´s go… MADARA!"

"HASHIRAMA!" the clash was epical. The earth started shattering because of the powerful explosion they caused, creating a Valley. The river started to fall though the recently made cascade.

"Let´s see who is going to win"

-Few hours later-

"Ha… ha…" Madara finally had his opponent where she wanted him, smiling when she delivered her final attack. unfortunately for her, the man kneeling in front of her was a clone, a very realistic wood clone. She looked was confused for a moment, which Hashirama used to knock her completely out. The woman was stopped from touching the ground by the arms of her fiancé, who kneeled down, worn off.

"You surely are another think, the only one that could be by my side" he caressed the raven locks, looking at her with absolute passion. He sat down there, on the battlefield, resting and waiting for her to wake up. It was well past dawn when the female started opening her eyes. "Rise and shine, sweet hearth"

"You are an idiot" the Uchiha grunted, biting her lip. "the only good thing is that… you are powerful. Powerful enough to stood your ground against me and a fucking Bijuu together, something that shouldn´t be even possible…"

"Shhhh" he put a hand on her lips. "You shouldn´t be talking"

"And you shouldn´t be alone with me, even if we are engaged" he was surprised now. She accepted him as her fiancé so quickly. "Why do you look surprised? I lost, and even if it pains me to accept it, I practically gave my word that if I was still alive after that battle, I will marry you. And I always uphold my word."

"You are talking about it as if it was a condemn to death" he sighed. "Look, Madara, I don´t want to force you to do anything you don´t want, even if it pains me. I just want to make you happy…"

"I don´t need anyone else to be…"

"For God´s sake, Madara! You are alone and I know it! I want to be by your side because I truly love you and it hurts me to see you that alone and sad and… and… sour!" her eyes widened. Did he really noticed how much she was hurting inside? Since Izuna´s death, she couldn´t… she just… "I love you and… just give me an opportunity to make you love me, to help you."

"I… have been a clan head for so long… I don´t want to lose everything I have achieved on my own because… because I got married" she finally admitted, looking a bit down, with blushed cheeks. No one ever talked to her with such a passion… with such feelings to her. "The… the clan…"

"I never asked you to renounce anything for me" he smiled wickedly. "Leave those assholes in your council to me, I will not let them take anything from you" she returned his smile, suddenly feeling better. "And if I ever need some help, I will definitely call you. If me alone can inspire terror, then together we are an unstoppable force."

"Are you trying to conquer me?"

"I will always try" he was about to kiss her when someone arrived. Very unwelcome guests, especially because it was his brother and other members of his clan… oh, there were Uchihas too.

"Aniya! I heard you and…" he then looked around himself, noticing the amount of destructions around him. "What the HELL happened here?!"

"Nothing, just a fight between a recently engaged couple"

"Nothing? Nothing?! This place looks as if a Bijuudama exploded just over it!"

"Three"

"What?"

"It was three Bijuudamas and two other attacks… I believe that those were Hashirama´s Ashuras stepping on the land" she yawned, stretching a bit. For the Sage, she was so tired. "Well, I guess we already set our differences apart."

"Set your differences apart? You practically trashed a land!" the albino shouted, putting his hands on his hips. "Besides, you shouldn´t be together alone even if you are engaged to each other! It shows a complete disrespect for the rules and I don´t want to hear the Uchiha´s complains about you!"

"Do me a favour, asshole, and shut up"

"You… you…" Tobirama bit his lip, glaring at his future sister in law. He promised to himself to be there in every one of the dates the couple was allowed to have by their clans until the wedding. Just to make sure that the Crazy Demon didn´t kill his brother… or keep the idiot in his place. "Let´s go back to the village before I lose my patience. Hand her over to her clan, aniya. And you, keep quiet"

"Stop giving me orders, I´m not your servant nor your brother´s wife yet. I don't have to listen to you."

"Argggggg" he growled. "It´s going to be such a pleasure to have you as my sister"

-The next day-

"Pay attention, girl" Madara was woken up from her dream by a stern voice. Nanako-san was teaching her to do a tea ceremony… or boring her to death, at least in her opinion. It was so stupid! Who needed to know that? And do they have to do it in such a way? She was feeling like a damn doll. "You have to know how to make a tea ceremony, it´s a very ancient tradition for ladies, specially ones of high status" explained the older woman. "Once you are married you are expected to do this perfectly and pass that knowledge to your daughters."

"And if I don´t have any daughter?" the still clan head put a hand on her cheek, still showing her complete disregard over the traditions for feminine members of the clan.

"If you have the venture of only bearing males, then pass it to their daughters" sighed Nanako. "Besides, all married women are expected to do this, the art of preparing tea elegantly is a skill that all…"

"Blah blah blah" Madara yawned again, closing her eyes a bit. She needed to escape or she really was going to turn crazy. Unfortunately for her, she was being watched by more than a few women. It was difficult to escape their eyes… but not impossible. She smiled wickedly, hiding it when she was offered the utensils to prepare the tea. Finally she did the tea ceremony to his aunt´s content and she retired for a bit to grab her embroidering set.

"Stay here" she looked down and then casted a genjutsu to escape her guardians. The Uchiha started running towards a place that was very known to her, the Naka River. She wanted to do something else than arranging flowers, embroidering tissues and making tea (fortunately for her she already knew how to cook, a pleasant surprise for her female relatives) "Sheesh, what a drag"

"Woow, Midori-chan, see who is there" a voice caught her attention immediately. She turned around, realizing in that moment that she was not alone. Mito was there with her maid servant, who was holding up a parasol so the princess was protected from the sun. "Long time no see, Madara-sama. I see that you have turned into a lady."

"Not really… some of my elders forced me to wear this" she admitted and sat down on the floor, something that would have made Nanako and her crew scream. "I wish I could have my old clothes, but the day after my engagement those old woman replaced my whole wardrobe for something FIT for a woman."

"You doesn´t seem very enthusiastic for that" the princess laughed before sitting down next to her, followed by the maid. Madara then picked up a stone, throwing it with accuracy. It crossed the river, surprising her companions.

"You know how to skip stones? I never learned" the redhead grabbed a stone, showing exactly how bad she was at that. "My mother considered it was undignified for a princess."

"What a coincidence, so did mine" Madara smiled, remembering the woman. "But she let me do whatever I wanted… too bad that now it´s biting me, because those crazy old ladies wanted to teach me years worth of knowledge in a few months."

"Ohhh, but… you should be happy for the wedding" tried to change the conversation the Uzumaki. "How are the preparations going, by the way?"

"I haven´t been even let near the shrine"

"Since when the bride is not able to supervise the preparations for her own wedding day?" asked Midori, surprising the two upper class women. "Ehhh… I´m sorry, miladies, I didn´t mean…"

"No, it´s okay" the Uchiha calmed her down. "Can you help me a bit?" she signalled her hair, which was pinned to her skull in a very uncomfortable way. the maid servant quickly worked to undo the hairstyle, letting the raven´s hair down. "Thank you, it was killing me. How those old hags can use it all the time, I will never know."

"They are just too used to their old ways" the princess laughed, remembering an aunt of her. "Don´t be sad, the younger generations abandoned that style a lot time ago. If you don´t like it, don´t wear it, nobody cares anymore."

"My aunt does"

"You are not marrying to make her happy" something then came from the younger woman´s mind. "By the way, I heard that you two created a new Valley in a fight. According to my sources, it´s called the Valley of End" Madara grunted at the melodramatic name. She would have chosen a better one. "Apparently it was named like that because it sealed the total end of the war between the Uchiha and Senju clans"

"It was already over"

"No with the Battling Maiden and the Shinobi God still at odds with each other" she clarified. "Even if it pains me to admit it, you were the reasonable choice to do" the redhead grabbed her ankles. "I… hope you are happy."

"I think I will be, but… are you?"

"I will be" the Uzumaki said in whisper. "I´m sorry, I was stupid. I should have realised that he didn´t see me as a possible wife, but as a good ally and friend. He was so charming…" she cried a bit "I was fooled by it… but you… he always had that special look for you in his eyes, as if you were the only other thing in the world" she suddenly turned around and grasped her hands. "I sincerely wish you luck."

"Thank… thank you"

-Later-

"I haven´t had an encounter this lame with you ever" Madara commented and her fiancé didn´t have any other choice but to nod. "Seriously, this is our first date as an engaged couple and you aren´t even surprised that it is so lame? At least do something to easy the atmosphere or I might just walk away."

"Well…" he turned to see the closest table, where his brother and Nanako drank tea and ate dango. They were the chaperones, the ones in duty to make sure the couple keep the purity tradition until the wedding night. Which really killed the atmosphere. "This was not what I imagined when I asked permission to take you out to eat something together."

"And what were you thinking, good boy?" she raised an eyebrow. "You should know that those old farts were not going to let you alone with me until the wedding night, they are too old fashioned for that" she took one of the sticks to her mouth, disappointed. She had millions of encounters with Hashirama, for the Sage´s sake, and never remotely unappropriated ever happened. They should trust her by now. Both of them. "So boring…"

"I´m sorry" he got a bit depressed, thinking that probably next time they should meet in secret at the riverside… or perhaps other place, because that could be counted as a regression to childhood. He zipped on his tea before continuing. "How are you doing, by the way? Some older males in my clan has been giving me advice for marriage and it´s quite confusing"

"The old hags of my clan haven´t left me a moment of peace since you popped out that damn question" she rolled her eyes. "It could have been worse, at least I know how to cook good enough for them to leave my kitchen alone."

"Your cooking is more than good, I love your tomato soup. It´s not my favourite dish, but you prepare it with such a flavour that…" she blushed a bit. No one flattered her cooking since Izuna died. "Ehhh, are you feeling okay? Your face is so red…"

"Shut up and finish your dango, idiot" she drank quickly, trying to hide her flustered face. Tobirama stared at them, chewing the sweet very slowly, as if trying to swallow something awful. His brother… his aniya complimenting an Uchiha on her cooking skills? More over, complimenting MADARA on something feminine? The world surely was turning nuts. For her part, Nanako was pleased. Being complimented on something like a dish by her future husband was very flattering for a woman.

"I didn´t know you knew how to make tomato soup" she commented to Madara when they were exiting the establishment, smiling a bit. She herself only proved her inarizushi and miso soup before deeming her cooking appropriate and passing to other more pressing things.

"It was one of Father´s favourite dishes" she commented. "Usually it put him in a better humour, specially after mother died" the younger lowered her head. "I got used to cooking it for him and when he died… Izuna and I always had that on his birthday."

"Don´t look so down, Tajima-sama would be proud" no, he wouldn´t be, Madara thought, he would grab his sword and attempt to kill the council, all along while screaming that he would die before letting his daughter, his precious and only daughter, marry the son of Butsuma Senju. "And most girls learned how to cook with family."

"I learned taking care of Izuna, he was so young when mother died" she commented, remembering how much her little brother cried those days. Tajima was either on the battlefield or too exhausted to cook for them, so she started taking over some of her mother´s roles. "And you, Nanako-san? How did you learn all this things?"

"Well… my mother taught me herself"

-In other part-

"I don´t know what you see in her" commented the albino, walking besides his brother on the streets. Hashirama was radiant. Even if it was a lame encounter, every minute he spend with his beloved was a blessing to his soul. His happiness was contagious by everyone… except his brother. It was as if there was a bright sun just in front of a black hole. A very enraged black hole. "Really, what do you see in her?"

"What do you see in Mito?"

"She was a princess of a well respected clan who is relatives with us, which makes them completely trustworthy" he began, making the other sigh. "Besides, she is well versed in the arts of being the wife of an important person, has the proper education for a woman of her position, doesn´t go into fights as easily as that savage…"

"Yes, but I wasn´t really asking that" he paused and turned around. "What´s in her that attracts you so much?"

"What in the seven hells are you taking about?" asked the albino, confused.

"I´m your big brother, you can tell me" tried to coax him Hashirama. "What does she had that make you like her so much? Come on, tell me."

"I don´t like her"

"Come on! Tell me!"

"Stop pushing, I already told you that I don´t like her!"

Hello! Hope you liked it. I thought that maybe I should continue with the preparations of the wedding, but where to begin? Send me your Reviews!


	5. Chapter 5

"You shouldn´t be eating so much" Nanako said when she saw the amount of food her niece was putting on her plate. It was all sushi, inarizushi to be exact, but even so… "Putting on weight a few days before the wedding isn´t good for the bride, especially with the kind of kimono we are making the Aburame clan do for you."

"I will eat what I want" answered Madara. She always had a good dinner, especially before battles... and she considered a wedding a battle. That was because she was so nervous. And she had reasons to be. "Especially since I cooked the dinner"

"More like rolled the fish" the older woman got up, putting a hand over her face. "Maybe tomorrow I can let you out an hour or two to go training, to burn off those calories" she made a sound with her tongue. "And why are you eating so much anyway? Normally you go to bed with a light meal."

"I… have much to think about" she bit her lips. There was one thing that she wasn´t sure how to approach, especially with an older lady. True, she was a cousin from her mother that was more of a sister to Nanami and an aunt to her children, but even so… she truly should talk more to people her gender. "Before the wedding, you know"

"Yes, I was a little nervous before my own wedding too" the woman conceded, sitting down next to her and putting a dango plate in front of her. She started eating it with a dignified air. "And eating might sound calming, but you should contain yourself. It´s not something of the other world, many women get married each day" she looked up. "And you are more fortunate than many. The Sage knows I didn´t know my husband until he asked for my hand…"

"Hashirama was a childhood friend… which is why I´m not so sure how to take the step from that to… husband" she went a little bit red. Maybe this was the time to go clean. "What… should I do? In the wedding night, I mean… my mother didn´t told me anything."

"Ehhhh… yes, each bride has the same doubt" Nanako got mute for a moment too. "Well… it´s not so complicated… just… let the love you have for your husband guide you… and he will… know to… how to do it" she rolled her eyes. "Men… they always know what to do on those moments. At first it´s not… good… they also need practice…"

"Okay, this is uncomfortable" she got up. "I will search for some sake, then we can continue with this talks. You can also bring some of your friends from outside" she signalled, surprising her. She didn´t know that the other raven noticed the female guards outside. "Invite them to a little reunion to give some advice to a new bride."

"Right away" the lady got up immediately. It wasn´t unheard of that a girl about to get married invite older relatives for them to share some of their experiences in marriage with her. In fact, it was encouraged by the high ranking families. Of course this meetings were an event for only women, the male presence was banned from the room. Maidens were accepted too, only if they were accompanied with their mothers and about to get married themselves. And sometimes they extended for some days.

"What is taking her so long?" she took a first swing of sake before her aunt returned, bringing some groceries with her. She stared at them, recognising some of the packages as sweets. "I thought that you didn´t want me to eat more."

"It´s not for you, it´s for the guests" she started to prepare tea too, putting some water to boil. "I took the liberty of inviting some of our relatives."

"I asked just for the guards outside, not for a circus" Madara shook her head, pushing her empty sushi plate away from her. She should have known that something like that was about to happen when she sent the older woman to pick some company for today. "I guess the sake is out of question"

"Yes, you can´t find a lady drinking like a low life genin" the clan head grunted before resigning herself to stand the stay of the other females. Soon her house started to get filled with females, from young maidens she only knew from look (their aptitudes as kunoichis were not remarkable as hers) and old ladies, all in looking completely serious.

"Don´t tell me that you call them all here to talk about the wedding night"

"The wedding night and everything else, my dear" Nanako started putting the pastries in the table, where the guests could take them if they want. The bride to be groaned and resigned herself to a party of doom. Unknown to her, in the other part of the town, Hashirama was having another problem that had much to do with her current predicament.

"I refuse" he said with his hands over his face and a blush on his face. "I totally refuse to do this" the scandalously clad woman his brother brought home laughed. She has never seen a groom to be that refused to spend his last nights as a single man with women like her. "I don´t know what you are planning, but I will never bed a woman like her… do you want to sabotage my wedding?"

"Nope, this is practically a tradition" Tobirama crossed his arms, his eyes averting from the female in front of them. "Normally the groom gives goodbye to his single live with… this kind of company" he sweated a bit. "Don´t be silly and get in with her. You don´t have to be in the room all night, just do it once or twice. Even Madara will thank you for that, specially after the wedding night…"

"I don´t need any of that!" his face lit up red.

"Of course you do!" the albino blushed too. "Perhaps you didn´t get the memo, but this thing doesn´t come out as naturally as a newly wedded couple would wish! You need practice! As you never had any woman in your life, I had to begin sooner…"

"Tobirama, I don´t need… practice. I will do what I have to do…" the younger Senju roughly grabbed him and pushed him inside the room. The lady strolled after him, entering the room. "What are you doing?! Hey, let me out of here! Otouto!" he then looked at the woman. "I… look, I don´t want to…"

"Just get there and do it! Practice for that demon you are so found of!" the albino marched away, not wanting to experience anything more of that traumatic experience. Once he was out of hearing range. The older Senju took a look at the woman in front. Apparently his brother tried to find someone according to his tastes, because she was a raven and somewhat pale. But… he didn´t want to do it.

"Look, lady, I don´t…"

"You don´t have to do it if you don't want" the prostitute said, sitting down on the floor. She had some of his type before, so enamoured with their future wives that refused to touch other women. "But… I can give you a few tips for your wedding night, so you and your bride could enjoy it more."

"That will be appreciated" he nodded. The Hokage wanted his wedding night to be something especial, both for him and his wife, so he was reserving himself for the night, but had nothing against sharing some experience with someone… with more experience. "I… never had any woman in my life."

"Well… let´s begin with the bases"

-A few days later-

"Do we really have to do this every day?" Madara grunted when Nanako put in front of her another plate of sweets and some tea. It was the night before her wedding and it was costume for the Uchiha clan that the eldest ladies stay in the house watching the fire all night and making it strong and warm while the bride sleep and her mother shared some food with them. "Can´t I have some time for myself for the last time?"

"I doubt you will never have time for yourself" she answered, sitting down next to her friend´s child. She snorted before a knock was heard on the door. The women started arriving, each of them more serious than the last. They started playing with the fire and Madara took that time to leave.

"We will be by the fire" the head of the elder´s council´s wife was the first one to start playing with the fire, moving the wood. Her friends sat down next to her. "And just hope that she doesn´t find out what her fiancé has been doing before the wedding"

"Does a bride ever does?"

"Oh, many more than you think, Nanako-san"

-In other part-

"CAMPAI!" the Senju clan men, sans Tobirama, were cheering and drinking from big cups beer and sake. Hashirama was in the centre of all of them, receiving some cheers from his male companions for his wedding. He too was drinking, trying to contain himself. "COME ON! THE CLAN AND VILLAGE HEAD IS GETTING MARRIED!"

"YES! WHERE IS THE PARTYYYYY!"

"Surely in your heads" answered the Hokage, smiling a bit at his relative´s stupidity. Of course, the Senju clan was one in which the celebrations were huge, specially for the males. The females had their parties too (they were as huge as the males sometimes), but surely were more private than their counterparts.

"FOR HASHIRAMA-SAMA, CAMPAI!"

"CAMPAI!" liquor flew everywhere, showering some of the ninjas. More filled the cups and they continued drinking, specially Tobirama. The albino Senju was already plastered, something that didn´t happened since the first time their father brought him to one of them. His red face was on the table and his hand circled around a cup.

"Maybe you should stop with that, otouto" he took away the last of the sake. "I can´t have my best man being hung over in the wedding" the white haired man glared at him before trying to get up, falling to the ground. "Perhaps I should take you to your room"

"The house… MY house"

"Yes… yes" the older brother patted his back before heading off. He knew that once he was married he will have to move, which gave him the opportunity to build a new and more luxurious house closer to the Hokage tower. Not that the one he shared with Tobirama was bad, but… he wanted some space too and the albino tended to be a little bit… well, bossier than the Damnyo.

"Why did you chose that she male in the first place? You could have had a woman, any actual woman…" he drunkenly said, while he was practically carried by the future groom to his room. "And she is not only unfeminine, but an Uchiha! A freaking Uchiha with those cuuuursssed eyes!"

"Okay, you are talking through your xenophobia here, we better get out before someone else can hear you" he quickly pushed his brother as fast as he could to the house that will be not his anymore the next day. "Lay down on the bed."

"I don´t know what´s going to be harder" started commenting the younger Senju. "to accept that demoness in the family or get accustomed to that you are not longer here" the older froze when he heard those words. "Since I was so little, you were the one that was always by my side. Not father, not mother, but you…"

"I´m still by your side" he quickly kneeled next to him, passing a hand through his hair as if he was still a child. "I might be Madara´s husband since tomorrow, but I will still be your older brother and care for you" he quietly assured. "I will always be by your side."

"That sounds… great, but… soon… you are going to have children and…" he drunkenly moved his head. "Don´t give that look, idiot" he slurred. "We know you are going to make her some" he glared at him. "As if you were made of stone… accept it, better for… everyone… soon you are going to make her… some babies…"

"I… plan to enjoy my marriage a bit…"

"Exactly! That enjoyment it´s the bad thing!" he screamed, getting up from the bed where he fell. "Enjoyment! How do you think kids are made?!"

"Apparently by enjoying carnal pleasure, but… there are some ways to avoid having children until you are ready for them" the older brother explained, matter of factly. "Easy there, it´s not good to move so fast when drunk. You know it…"

"Yes…" he was nauseated now. "I think I´m going to be sick…"

"Exactly for that" he searched frantically for a bucket before finding one and putting it where his brother might find it. It was just in time, because the younger one puked in it as soon as he placed it. The brunette rubbed his back, tending to him. "There, there… it´s going to be okay"

"Ughhh… my head too"

"Time to sleep"

"I can´t, not with you about to get married" Tobirama rolled a bit. "You know, forget me. You are losing your own bachelor party because I was stupid enough to mix some liquors… I´m better now, go enjoy it."

"You know, I better stay here" he cleaned some spots form his face. "I prefer to pass my last night as a single man with you than in a wild party getting drunk"

"Don´t mock me, you love getting wild"

"You might be right, but…" he whispered. "I also have to make sure that my best man is presentable enough for the wedding, no? come on, let´s talk and then go to sleep. The sooner you sober up, the sooner we can start preparing for the wedding"

"Ughhh… I´m still…"

"Here, take it out" he passed the bucket and sighed. This was indeed going to be a very long night.

-Later-

"Auuuuuuu" Tobirama woke up with a pounding headache. He didn´t remember drinking so much last night… well, he should have, because his head felt as if it was being hammered by one of his brother´s giant wood statues. He was about to pull the covers over his head when someone entered to the room. "Am I late?"

"Nope, but I have to prepare some breakfast for you" Hashirama put a plate in front of him. he was a bad cook, but at least he could fry something… well, half fry half burn. "Come, eat something. You need to fill your stomach after puking twice in a sole night."

"I… sorry for keeping you from having fun" he told, noticing that the stench of alcohol was not clinging to him like in the other nights he went to party. "I should have looked ridiculous, the first one to felt to the floor, completely hammered" he covered his face. "Surely you had to bring me to bed as if I was a little boy at his first party… ohhh, the comments…"

"You surely don´t think that I left you to be the laughing stock of the party, didn´t you?" he sat down next to him. "I took you discreetly out of there as soon as I noticed you were in no state to attend anymore. That´s what a responsible brother should do."

"Yes, I know" he took the first bite and try not to puke again. He swallowed painfully, remembering why he learned to cook himself so he could sustain both him and his brother without either of them suffering food poisoning. "I have done the same thing for you a couple of times… and more than that" he took another bite. "You surely were a problem, aniya, specially when drunk."

"Thank you" the Hokage sat down in front of him with a plate of food, which looked even worse than Tobirama´s. it was always like that whenever they needed to sustain themselves with Hashi´s horrible cooking, the younger´s dinner looked better than the older´s. they ate in silence, trying not to puke. "For the Sage, I should have bought something from the market. Then we would not be eating this on my wedding day"

"Yes, you should have bought something" he crunched some of the horrible meal, soon finishing the entire plate. "Okay, we don´t have much time, the wedding is a few hours away. Go to the shower right now and wipe that stench of sweat and alcohol" the brunette crossed his arms, as if he was about to disobey. "I mean it, go to the shower"

"Okay, okay" Hashirama finished his meal too and walked to his bath, where he washed himself. When he got out, his brother was already putting his formal clothes on his bed. The groom´s dressing was horrible, unfortunately he was forced to wear his father´s wedding kimono, but it could be worse. "You know, I never understood why you made such a fuss over my clothing"

"Because I wanted to honour our parents' wishes" he answered, preparing the photos of the couple, with some black bands. "Let´s just say that you are not the one who suffers the most, your "beautiful bride" must be trying to fit on her kimono right now"

"Really?"

-In the Uchiha compound-

"Humm…" Madara finished washing up, getting up from the bath. Her elders were already preparing the kimono to fit her, something she was not so eager to do. She let them dress her up like a doll, trying to reduce her waist as much as he could. She could barely breathe when they were finally content and proceed to the next preparation.

"Stay still" Nanako, who was the best with the comb, started trying to tame her wild hair. The bride to be simply bit her tongue, trying to stop thinking about how much this hurts. Maybe she should comb her hair once in a while. "damn, this hair is a complete mess. Have you ever bother to use a comb?"

"Only… only when it´s needed" she continued enduring it. After her hair was done, it was time for the make up. She totally despised that thing, no matter how pretty t could make her look. It always made her feel that the horrible thing cloud her eyes and that was the last thing she wanted. "Can´t I go to the shrine without that? Natural style could be a new tendency for future brides…"

"I said stay still, we are sticking to tradition here. It´s an important wedding, you know" the youngest sighed, accepting her fate. When she was ready, someone handed her some flowers and then Nanako asked for a moment. She was the closest relative to the late Nanami, so it was her right and duty to fill her place handing the bride to her new husband. She returned with a simple black kimono that fit her very well.

"We are not in a funeral" signalled Madara.

"A married woman goes to a wedding in a black kimono, single ones can use other colours" explained her before lending her a hand. The clan head knew this was a signal for it to begin, accepting the hand and sighing. She had an idiot to see in the altar. They were walking to the shrine when she saw who was accompanying the groom.

"Does he really has to do this?" she made a gesture of disgust at seeing Tobirama.

"Hashirama-sama´s father is no longer with us, so the closest male relative brings him to the altar" the woman said. Madara sighed and tried to ignore her brother´s killer, who kindly returned the favour. They reached the shrine, where the ceremony was done. She felt a little nervous when the time came for the sansakudo. All those eyes in her were not helping, but managed to perform the ceremony correctly, taking little sips of the drink. The priest finally pronounced them husband and wife.

"We did it" the brunette commented with a smile that made her think that all the circus was worth it. The festivities began, a little bigger than the ones already celebrated on the shrine thanks to the groom´s statue.

"Hope you are happy with it, because I certainly want this to end" whispered the raven to him while they were receiving the salutes from different clan heads. The Uzumakis were the next ones, wearing some fake smiles… except Mito. She was truly happy for them. After accepting that the Shodaime was never meant to her and talking to the Uchiha, the redheaded maiden was able to congratulate them without hypocrisy.

"I´m so happy for you" she hugged the bride while her father shook hands with the village leader, making his best not to express his disappointment that this wasn´t his daughter´s wedding. "You are so pretty… and without Midori´s and mine´s aid"

"Well, I did have some help" Madara touched her bangs. "My elders prepared everything for me, as they didn´t believe that I could prepare a wedding myself."

"You already told me that" the princess said, arranging her colourful kimono a bit. "But don´t worry, you are not the only one. I seriously doubt my mother is going to let me arrange my own wedding when I finally get married" she sighed. "I think she doesn´t trust me to do something worth a princess."

"Oh, Nanako-san is the same" they laughed before the redhead had to walk away to let other guests give their congratulations to the couple. One of Hashirama´s aunts came next with her husband, sporting a rather ugly black kimono that didn´t do a good work hiding the excess of weight she was suffering. She was also looking blushed despite being near the begin of the wedding.

"Hashi-chan, I´m so glad for you!" she said in a very loud tone that made both of them want to cover their ears. "You will see what I prepared for your wedding night… I was one of the women that prepared your room in the new house" she laughed a bit, looking dumb. "You will see, I put the baby maker in your…"

"Sorry, she drank a few shots before coming" her husband apologized before she could continue. "Come on, darling, you need to eat something"

"But I want to drink!"

"Eat before drinking" he dragged her away by the force, leaving the embarrassed Shodaime and his new wife alone for some moments. The woman turned to him, her eyes looking red and menacing. He gulped down, knowing that they didn´t mean anything good for him.

"The baby-maker?"

"Don´t ask" he commented. They talked to their guest a bit more before Hashirama extended a hand to her, signalling that it was time for the last speech. She was a little bit angry that her role in that important moment was just stand beside her husband and look pretty, but for the sake of tradition, she followed him. they stood in front of the clans reunited there, the brunette coughing to grab their attention.

"Are you sure you want to end it now?" asked the raven, knowing exactly how much the other enjoyed parties, especially when he can drink high quantities of alcohol.

"Yes, I´m ready to go to bed" he said, yawning a bit. It was indeed a tiring day "Ladies and gentlemen! First of all, thanks to all of your to attend our wedding. Both me and Madara are very grateful" he bowed, something the others returned. "This village started as an alliance between two clans, an alliance that now ties us closer" he gripped her hand. "But not only that. It let us achieve not only piece, but offered me the opportunity to marry the love of my live, the only woman that I can imagine a future with. I truly hope that this same gift is conceded to many more, to strength the ties between all the clans in the village and make it stronger. And more important, to make it full of love" He smiled to them. "That´s my biggest wish, that this village gets full of love to share with the world and keep the peace we have achieved" the people clapped and they said their goodbyes, retiring to the new house. "You know, if she was still alive, it would be my mother and not me who bring you here."

"How was her? If she was like Tobirama, then I am grateful she didn´t do it" Madara breathed in, trying to relax. She knew what came next. Her elders just tell her to let her new husband do all the work and remain immobile, but it wasn´t her style. She used to charge to action, not letting others lead her. Even so… she was a bit scared. "I… think maybe I should… get this undone…"

"What?"

"The hairstyle, it´s uncomfortable" she said, signalling her hair. The way the women pinned her hair to put that hat with the Uchiha fan was uncomfortable and a little bit painful. "Is there a mirror where…?"

"Here" Hashirama leaded her to a bathroom. "Let me help you" the two shinobi started working on the hair. Finally the raven strands were free to fall down her back. The Shodaime took a lock of it, caressing it carefully. "It´s so beautiful…"

"Thank you" she blushed a bit. "Everybody in the clan always said it was horrible, that it looks like a porcupine replaced my hair with it´s spines…"

"Well, those eyes clearly blinded them, because it´s so soft and beautiful" he kissed it. "Despite the enjoyment I have touching it, perhaps you should let it down from now on. It surely hurts a lot to have it that way. And I prefer it when I can caress it freely"

"I thought that too" she turned, a bit more nervous than before. She could see what he was doing, the man she considered a friend. He was trying to seduce her. A truly nice action. "You know, normally a man would just ask what he wants from his wife after arriving from the wedding."

"I´m not like any other man" he assured. "I´m not doing anything until you are in the mood… because I want our first time to be perfect"

"Me too" they kissed for the first time on the lips. The Hokage´s hands caressed the back of her neck, caressing the skin. Soon things developed into something else, with the belt of her kimono being removed. "Please, be careful" she pleaded when she laid on the futon. "I´m a maiden"

"I know… I will be gentle with you"

-The next day-

"Hummm… you have to go now?" Madara stretched, feeling better than ever in life. The night before… ummm, such a night. Who would know such an act could feel so good? A little painful at the beginning, but satisfying as anything else. "It´s our honeymoon, couldn´t your stupid brother hand things on his own for once?"

"That stupid brother you are talking about is going to barge in if I don´t place my ass on that Tower in a few seconds. It can be our honeymoon, but he doesn´t care. There are some papers only I can read" he sighed. "Don´t call him like that, I bet you will get on with time."

"Heh, I will always call him that"

"Remember that he is your brother in law now" Hashirama finished putting on his kimono. He sent a look to his wife, who was still with her eyes closed. He would hurry up with those papers and escape as soon as he could to return to her and continue with what they were doing just the night before.

"That doesn´t mean I have to respect him" she yawned. "Should I expect you back soon? So I can have a breakfast ready…"

"Are you serious?"

"Of course not, you are perfectly capable of feeding yourself. I´m not doing everything for you, specially when I´m sored because of you" she opened an eye. "You better be back with something tasty, because if I don´t eat…"

"Okay, okay, I got it" he walked to her, giving the raven a kiss on the lips before heading to the door. "Be back in a few hours, don´t let anything piss you off in the meantime."

"I don´t think anything can" she returned to sleep… however, her dreams were short lived. Nanako chose that exact same moment to barge in to see if her niece was doing her role as a wife. She made a disapproving sound when she found her laying on the bed, sleeping soundly. The older woman shook the younger hard. "What…?"

"Why aren´t you taking care of the house? A wife has to have her house always perfect" she admonished, making Madara roll her eyes. She was too tired for this. "I bet your husband has gone to work with an empty stomach."

"That idiot doesn´t need m y help to feed himself. Besides, he will be back in a few hours, then I will feed him" she stretched like a cat, not caring at all about the disapproving look on her aunt´s face. "Come on, let me sleep. I´m still sore because of yesterday, I even bleed when… you know…"

"It´s normal, maidens bleed when their husbands take them the first time. The pain will also banish with practice" she groaned. The last thing she wanted was to grab enough practice at it for the worst to happen… namely, having a child. Unfortunately, her clan didn´t think the same as her. "You have to get the idea that..."

"Oh, I know, I got the idea CLEARLY well… and the act is quite… enjoyable" she blushed a bit when she pronounced those words. "The thing is… that we both want to have some time to get accustomed to being a couple before… you know, kids… Mom used to say we were a handful"

"Indeed, children are a handful" Nanako sighed. "Perhaps giving yourselves a time is the correct decision, after all younglings need a stable home" she gave her a hand, less angry. "Come on, dress up. You have a lot to do. First you have to wash the sheets and put them to dry, then cleaning the kitchen would be a good idea and…"

"Oh, dear God" Madara covered her head with a pillow attempting to escape. Was this really how it was going to be for the rest of her married life? Of course not, she refused to stay at home doing housework, she was not a slave.

"Come on!"

"Grrrrrr"

-Later-

"Okay, it´s done" Hashirama placed the last of the utterly important documents on the pile before looking around himself, seeing carefully if his brother or anyone else was close. He finally deemed it secure and escaped his office, running from top to top to his house. In the way home, he bought some dango, just to improve his chances that Madara was in enough good mood to let him have his fun. Unfortunately, he was not lucky. "What…"

"My dear aunt was here" said the raven in a low tone full of anger that surely meant he had to walk on eggshells around her. "Apparently, for my clan being a wife is the same as being a house slave, because I couldn´t make her leave until this kitchen" she signalled around her. "was shinning."

"Ouch" the Shodaime lowered his head, knowing exactly how much she despised housework. Maybe he was right to bring a gift. "Emmmm, I brought you dango, to sweet your day a bit"

"Thank you" she grabbed the sweet, feeling a little better. "Sorry that I was about to explode at you, it´s not your fault Nanako is making my life a living hell" the raven placed one of the sticks in her mouth. "Supper will be ready in a few, put the plates while I go check on it."

"Of course" he silently went to work, mentally patting his back. Crisis averted, Madara was back into a good mood. Now she only needed a massage and time in the training grounds to calm down and wipe all stress from her body. Then they could reassume their honeymoon without any…

"ANIYA! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU IRRESPONSIBLE IDIOT?!" Crap, the Hokage cursed, he had already noticed. Now he would be stuck behind a desk the rest of the day. The woman laughed at her husband´s tears. Her life was indeed not going to be boring.

And now... a new chapter! I was rather inspired and decided ot let it flow, do you like it? If you did, then send your reviews and happy new year!


	6. Chapter 6

"You know, this is uncomfortable" Madara said, laying in the bed besides her husband, stretching like a cat. "You always want to bed me, even when I´m not on the mood… which you promptly change" she licked her lips. "It´s been a year since we got married, you should have calmed down a bit by now."

"Really? But you are so hot that I can´t resist" Hashirama palmed her but once before kissing her, caressing her hips. She answered, putting her back in the back of his head to deepen the kiss… until a banging on the door interrupted them. "And there is he"

"Yes, there is your brother, ready to drag you to your office… do you think he believes you can´t get up in the morning without his help?" the raven laughed. The brunette grunted before getting up and dressing himself in his daily clothes. Then he grabbed the hat, the horrible hat the people usually mock about behind his back, and started walking to meet his otouto. In the middle of the way he grabbed a sandwich that was on the counter…

"Again, aniya?" Tobirama eyed the sandwich as if it was poisonous. "That woman should use some of her self-proclaimed talent in cooking to make you a breakfast"

"Tobirama, I like this sandwich, please don´t ruin the morning more than you have already" he commented, putting the whole thing in his mouth and munching. "You should come to eat some day, then you will see that my wife is the best cook in the town."

"Knowing her, she would put poison in my food, so no" the albino answered, frowning. After a year of being family, they didn´t get on with each other. Madara never forgave him for killing her beloved younger brother and Tobirama never forgave her for stealing his brother´s opportunity to marry the revered Uzumaki clan. Hashirama simply didn´t get it, his sibling was now courting the redheaded princess. "When are you having a son? You need to have an heir and the elders are getting impatient."

"We were trying until you interrupted us" informed the oldest Senju, making the other stop in his track. "What? You knew we were trying. After all last week…"

"Don´t remember me, I want to erase that from my memory" the brunette smiled sheepishly. The prior week his wife made a visit to his office to bring him lunch and they ended up kissing in the middle of the office. He was about to undo her sash when his brother walked in, nearly fainting when he saw what was happening. After he recovered a bit, ignoring his aniya´s attempts at explanation, the albino called it a day and walked away. "I know you are trying, you are practically all day with your mind on that woman."

"I thought that a husband loving his wife was a good thing" he commented. Finally they arrived at the Tower, where a fresh new pile of paperwork was waiting for them. Tobirama handed him the first ones of his batch and started working on the ones that he could help in. the first one was of D-ranked missions.

"My genin team is growing up fast" commented the younger Senju, sighing. "both of them. I think I might propose them for the chuunin exams this year… if you decide to keep that stupid idea of yours between us."

"It´s not stupid, chuunin exams are a great opportunity to foment international relationships and showing allies our own might, to keep peace" the Hokage explained. "I would like to avoid a new war from exploding after such a short time of peace, so I´m bringing that proposal up in the next Kage meeting."

"That awful thing? Please, don´t make anything idiotic" the albino sweat dropped, remembering that the last time Hashirama bowed to the other leaders, making his brother nervous and his wife enraged. Humm… he must admit that it was rather humorous to see a powerful man getting scolded by a woman, to see the absolute fear in the God of Shinobi´s eyes. That didn´t mean he liked to see his brother suffering, but… well, at least he wouldn´t we bowing to anyone except the damnyo soon.

"I never do… and Madara makes me fear enough for my life to make me rethink my position, thank you very much" he shuddered, remembering the wrath of the Uchiha. And the consequences of his actions. "I have never seen someone so angry…"

"Well, I would be angry too if the idiot I´m married to bowed to foreign leaders" he passed the paper, reading a document. "Are you still sending the proposition of having a massive exam in Konoha to those assholes?"

"Yes, I´m sending the Kages an invitation" he sighed. "For the love of the Sage, Tobirama, we need to keep things in peace with them. If we are more open with our action, then they will see us as less of a threat and more like true allies."

"I wish I could share your optimism, I truly wish so, but I am more on the opinion that the damn villages are going to tear each other´s necks sooner than later" they continued working in silence, with the younger Senju trying to find some good conversation theme to continue. He didn´t have one, so he just wrote in the papers. Finally something got into his mind. "Has you seen the letter by the damnyo?"

"I´m opening it right now" Hashirama continued, breaking the seal. Apparently there was nothing wrong with their feudal lord, but the crown prince was coming to Konoha pretty soon to make a revision of the shinobi forces in the village. He needed to put any projects of a conjunct chuunin exam for later. Now he had a few months to prepare for the very important visit of the crown prince. He commented this with his brother, who just frowned at the news. "What do you think we should do?"

"Maybe prepare his hotel room… yes, that will be the best beginning. Then an escort is going to be needed, the most trusted ninjas will be assigned to this job" he tried to remember the cv of each agent he had in his mind. "Yes, Tokka will do fine as a team leader"

"What do you think about Madara?"

"Do you think she will have the time?" asked the albino. "Between the house and her own duties as clan head, a position I don´t know how she still has, she has to be pretty occupied. Besides, the clan heads must be waiting at the village to present their respects."

"You are right" he passed the page. "Then I´m assigning a few Uchihas and Hyuugas to be Tokka´s subordinates in this mission" a strange look was thrown at him. "what? I can´t send a team of only Senjus and the Sharingan and Byakugan are ideal to watch the back and the flanks of the formation."

"Yes… perhaps" he accepted, looking back at his papers. "Just don´t do anything stupid like putting that insufferable clan head of the Hyuugas in the team… you know that he doesn´t know when to keep his mouth shut about his supposed superiority."

"Don´t worry, they will be all branch family members in the escort mission, all of them with an inferiority conflict that will keep them in place."

"Okay, great" Tobirama continued to read the papers in his desk. They still had a few months until the prince arrived, enough to carefully plan his reception. Otherwise, they still have some other things to worry about. Like the chuunin exams. And an arrangement in the missions to make them even more efficient. "Hashirama, I have an incoming request by a nobleman. Apparently he had a problem with bandits in the country."

"I will send some chuunins to deal with them" the Hokage continued writing on his papers, but his brother just stared at him. "What? Is there something else about the mission I have to know about?"

"Have you ever heard of the ninja guardians?" the brunette nodded, remembering the last time he and Madara visited the damnyo. They stood by his side, a personal army guarding the ruler of the Fire country. Of course, they didn´t match the force of Konoha, but were enough to discourage most of the assassins. "they are also in the job. Apparently, one of their own became rouge and left his post to sell his sword to the best buyer."

"I suppose the damnyo felt threatened and decided to send his personal bodyguards to terminate him before he could shame him even more"

"Yes… unfortunately, until now the ninja guardians haven´t done anything else than putting themselves to shame" he passed a hand through his hair. "This ninja had the ability of a jounin and the rest of the team, save for four, are chuunin that had some luck."

"So the request from the nobleman is also a request from the damnyo to eliminate this threat to his safety" Hashirama rubbed his chin. "Perhaps we can also offer a new pick up system for the personal bodyguards of the damnyo, not just luck."

"It´s a little bit more complicated… but basically yes" he rubbed his hands. "This nobleman worked for a few years as a minister and knows the damnyo personally. Apparently, he is still in contact with him, because he managed to recognize the ninja in question" he sighed "And send the request with a coded order: sent a team capable of taking care of the problem and another in secret to take down the rouge guardian."

"Humm… I don´t know… probably it could be better if only one team goes" he frowned. "Two teams could catch the attention in an unwanted way, especially in a location so close to the frontier with the Land of Earth."

"Yes, Iwagakure could assume this is a provocation and cause a new war" they both sighed. "I guess we can display two teams if they are camouflaged like one. My teams… they are the ones that fit in that description…"

"But the problem is that they are kids. We don´t know how they will react in a mission of such a calibre" besides, Hashirama was always a little bit reticent to send children to dangerous zone. "I know you can probably take down that former guardian and your students are strong enough to end the bandits, but… are you sure they are ready?"

"Saru and Danzo are strong enough to take down a jounin by now, Kagami is the strongest Uchiha since your wife and Homura, Koharu and Torifu made an amazing team" Tobirama put down some papers on the desk. "You should think about it. I will take care of the rouge personally; the children would only go against bandits…"

"The children are not ready for something like that, not according to our grading system" the Hokage put his pen down. "I will study your request"

"Aniya…"

"Tobi, it´s enough. There have to be other way to do it than sending children to a dangerous place" Hashirama said, wondering if he was doing the right thing. If he sent one team of jounin, Iwa can take the move as a threat to their frontier and react in a hostile way. Otherwise, if they sent two teams of chuunin, there could be a possibility of the second one being defeated by the rouge and failing such an important mission for the damnyo was not an option. The third possibility, sending children along with a jounin sensei could be ignored by Iwa and the jounin will surely be able to terminate the rouge, but it will be the first experience in real combat for the children and no one knew how they would react.

"Mito and I have decided to get married" Tobirama dropped the bomb in that moment. This surprised his brother, as he expected them to need some more time for the princess to get over the crush she used to have on him. "We didn´t have the intention of doing it so soon after your wedding…"

"I understand, you don´t have to explain that to me" the Shodaime smiled at him. He himself was happy in his marriage, something he desired for his little brother too. "Congratulations, otouto. Father would be proud of you."

"Yeah…I would say that he would be proud of us two, but that would be lying" the albino joked dryly. "She is beautiful and her parents are happy. This marriage will bring peace and prosperity to…"

"You are making it sound like a transaction" Hashirama interrupted him, suddenly serious. "Tobi, I want you to look at me in the face and tell me you aren´t doing anything for an alliance, but because you are in love with her" this surprised the younger, as he always thought of marriage as a duty, not something done out of love. "We lived horrible things, brother, and I would like at least to be assured that you get to spend the rest of your live with someone you love."

"I… I like her good enough" the younger Senju admitted. "Yes, she used to have a huge crush on you, but she got that she is not your type… specially after the references to you, your wife and your scandalous love life got to her ears."

"We are not…"

"You two are loud, practically keeping the whole village awake" the albino said. "And, to your other question, her parents are eager to see us married because of an alliance, but we two have somewhat fallen in love. So, I think I will be able to, after all, marry for love."

"Thanks the Rikkudo for that" they continued working. A letter from the Tsuchikage caught his attention next. Lately that particular Kage have been sending a lot of missives, asking particularly about the position of Konoha in relation to the possession of Bijuus by each village. Hashirama frowned, he never liked that man. It was as if he was searching for a pretext to start war. "Whatever team we sent to the bandits mission will have to be very careful. Ishikawa Kamizuru is searching for blood."

"You only notice that now? That shark has been smelling around the terrain for a flame to ignite war for quite some time. And I think the Bijuus are the theme he could find to cause most tensions between the nations" he clenched his fists. "Hashirama, you have to be careful. He might send assassins towards you and your wife. Or worse."

"What could be worse?" he asked that without really thinking, but there were surely things worse than death. All of them were within the reach of Ishikawa if he put his effort into that, especially with the aid of that pupil of his… the undetectable mummy ninja. "for now I will raise the vigilance around the village, but any hostile actions in the future would probably have to be taken as an act of war" depression overcame him for a second. "Tobi, do you think I just made things worse creating this village?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I don´t know, I just… fear that by creating the village and making the other countries follow my example I might have only achieved to make the problem worse. Bigger forces, bigger enemies, bigger armies… I could have created a new kind of war… a world war?"

"Aniya, you had the best of intentions" Tobirama finally said, trying to calm him. "To stop the bloodshed was the best that could happen to us… but the human being is the human being and it´s in our nature to fight between us. It will only end when someone says it´s enough." He sighed "Yes, you might have created a new kind of war, but also have the power to stop it. Of that I´m sure."

"Madara…"

"She would say the same" he assured, walking up to him. "Listen… leave Kamizuru to me for now. The other villages barely had the resources to start a war at full scale and he himself knows that this is not the time. We need some time to grow up" he pushed the chair away from the table. "Changing the theme, what has Madara made today for dinner? I can say a lot of things about your wife, but she at least knows how to cook."

"Since when do you eat something Madara cooks?" this surprised Hashirama even more than the Tsuchikage´s stupid desire for war.

"Since I realised that her food was delicious and that she would not poison your dinner as she would mine" he opened the food container without a care in the world about his brother´s opinion and started eating. "Mito´s cooking is not bad, but your wife is a goddess in the kitchen" he swallowed the taikoyaki. "She should stay there."

"Do you want her to stab me?"

"No, I want to her to prepare more of this so I can eat more… and also want to keep her in her place. You know that even kunoichis tend to the house when they got married" his brother sent him a glare that told him that was not going to happen. "I was just saying"

"You do that and let´s see if both of our foods are not poisoned by the next week"

-In the night-

"Madara, I´m home" surprisingly, his wife didn´t came to him. he searched around the house for her, finding the woman sitting down on the sofa. Her expression was shocked. "Hey, I didn´t see you when I came in. Is something the matter?"

"It´s just… well, I was aware this could happen, but… what I´m trying to say is… it´s not the right time and this shouldn´t be happening" Hashirama hugged her, rocking her slightly. "We haven´t been careful and I… I am pregnant" this didn´t surprise her husband a bit, as they have been having a lot of fun since their wedding. "I know this is a surprise…"

"Well, yes, but a good one" he put a hand on her belly, making her jump slightly. "I have always wanted a child" his caresses made her calm down a bit. She was about to say something, but he shut her up. "Don´t worry. Our baby will be born in a world better than the one we grew up in and I will keep on working to make sure it stays that way." he passed his fingers through her hair. "Everything will be fine"

"You don´t know that" Madara finally talking, nearly crying out of despair. "You and I know very well that the other villages don´t think like us. Their Kages are too greedy to accept our peace offering, even if you gave them the bijuus we captured. They will attack and they will attack soon. They… they won´t let this baby be born."

"Madara…"

"Our child will be hunted since the second the world learns of his existence" the man couldn´t exactly soothe her. He knew that was true, the other Kages would see the child as a threat. Being born to two of the most powerful ninjas… he could only be a force to be reckoned by the enemies of Konoha. "And that´s not all. Even if we managed to keep him safe and with us, he would carry the expectative of a whole village on his back. That solely would be enough to break any adult, let´s not think about a child."

"We will think about something" he promised.

"That Tsuchikage wants war too, a war of epic proportions and soon… for now you have been able to stay his feet, but some day your brother and you will lose and he would have his war. War is a poor place to raise a child, we can give faith to that."

"Yes, I know. That´s why I´m not going to lose to Ishikawa Kamizuru, not in the world" he promised. "I won´t allow our child to die nor other children in the middle of a battlefield. We left those times behind when the village was created and it should stay like that."

"Somehow, I think you are going to find a way to do it" she returned the hug. "Just be careful, okay? If he can´t beat you, that man is going to try and assassinate you. And don´t underestimate him" she lifted her head, suddenly very serious. "His Earth release is legendary around the world. And the bug taming squad he formed could be inferior to the Aburame clan, but managed to infuse the bugs with Bakuton and made them really dangerous."

"How do you know about the explosive bugs? I thought only the inner circle knew of the intelligence we reunited" she grinned like the Cheshire cat. "Can you tell me, oh my dear wife?"

"Izuna ran into a squad of them before, during the warring clan era. He lost three good men in his escape and a fourth near our camp because he used an advanced Katon and filled the bug with chakra" she signalled her arm. "I could see the bug seconds before that man went kabbom"

"Were you using the Sharingan?" she nodded. "I guess your clan can give me a few guards to make sure he doesn´t make any attempt on my life. I would use Hyuuga, but they seemed very angry with me after I proclaimed the peace with Iwa and Kumo"

"They are the two nations that tried to steal their Byakugan, every clan would be angry at that" Madara cleaned her tears and stood up. Everything should be fine if Hashirama was by her side. To hell with the other Kages, she was going to kill them before they could reach her baby. "We… we have to stay together and be careful in this, okay?"

"Yes, yes" the brunette got up. He hadn´t felt that happy since the time he managed to stop the fight between the different leaders in the Kage Summit, even if he had to bow his head. But there was something different in this occasion. This time he wasn´t going to bow his head. And he was going to win. With or without bloodshed was in the other leaders´ tables, but he was determined to make this as non-violent as possible.

"I´m serious"

"Me too" he answered. Madara went to the kitchen to cook, trying not to vomit with the smell of food. It was one of the things that alerted her about the pregnancy, since she usually could stomach whatever someone could cook. A drawback of spending the most of her life in a war camp. She put a hand on her belly, still flat. "My child… I don´t know how you are or who you are going to be, but be sure… that I will do everything I can to ensure your safety. You are the most important thing now."

"Madara? Is something the matter?"

"No, nothing" she continued. Finally, she managed to finish that and went to Hashirama with a pot of steaming soup. They ate in silence. "Do you think our child will look like either of us? Normally an Uchiha child tend to have black hair and eyes, normal Uchiha features, but I can say the same about the Senju. Or at least you, because your brother doesn´t really look like your father at all."

"Well… I can tell you that my clan had a lot of people who didn´t share the usual features" the male sipped his food. "It´s because of so much inter breeding. Some genetic diseases started appearing, like albinism… I wonder why your clan never had that problem."

"Because we tried to bring new blood every now and them to avoid issues like that" he shook his head. "We are not as xenophobic as you or the Hyuugas. In the past we had problems over inter breeding and learned that mixing bloods is the best idea to keep people disease free. We still have some problems" she signalled her eyes. "For example, we never were able to cure the blindness the Sharingan causes."

"I heard about that" he frowned. "I´m somehow relieved that I´m not married a second cousin or something like that. Not only because I love you more than anything" he blew her a kiss. "But because our child will be safer than any other before him."

"Hashirama… me too"

-In another place-

"Lord Tsuchikage" Muu appeared from behind Ishikawa, branding a paper. "The spies sent us some interesting information. Madara Senju is pregnant" the old man didn´t move. He as thinking about the implications of the news. Will the Hokage made more efforts to stop his war with a child in the way? "How do you want to deal with it?"

"Nothing" the man frowned. It was to be expected, a healthy newly was bound to bring children into the world after all. "We should stop imitating Kumo and try to steal other villages kekkei genkais. It´s time for us to develop our own weaponry" he got up. "Is Oonoki in the stone monument right now?"

"Yes, my lord" answered the mummy man. "But I don´t know how this will help us. I know that he has a very special blood limit, but…"

"With time, that blood limit can become the strength of our village" he continued walking "And once he realised his duty, this village´s strength will grow up even more than you think. By our own strength, not robbing other people´s."

"Why is that so important?"

"Because when I get my war, that blood relation with other villages can be dangerous" the old man clenched his fists. "Listen to me, Muu, so that you made a good Tsuchikage after I pass my mantle. The strength of the village must come from the village itself. If you steal from others, one day or another it will revert onto you. And war… war is the only true way to show our village´s strength and diminished the one of the others."

"Then we leave them alone" the younger man continued walking by him. "I don´t know what the other Kages might do. I will keep an ear on the wall, so we are able to prevent their moves and be ready if a war breaks."

"No, it´s not so easy, especially with a pacifist like Hashirama Senju in the power" he smiled. "they won´t be able to reach the child. And even if they do, the mother is dangerous enough to discourage any attempt."

"The Raikage might want to go along with the plan of stealing the new-born."

"Even he knows it´s a bad idea" Ishikawa continued. "He knows that, even if he is a pacifist, there is a monster inside of the Hokage and he doesn´t want to awake it" he smiled. "Hell, I would prefer to deal with his enraged wife than with the God of Shinobi when the man is angry as hell."

"I know about that"

"No, you don´t. you haven´t seen him really angry" Muu frowned. He didn´t know Ishikawa had such a run in with the Hokage. "I am not making illusions of being stronger than any of them, the God of Shinobi or the Battle Maiden. So I devised a plan to ambush them and kill at least one of them. I put it into motion when they were fighting against each other. It took some time, but I finally had an opening and managed to strike Madara down. She was not death, so I foolishly went to kill her. And then I see him… The God of Shinobi´s anger is something terrible indeed."

"And you want a war with them still?"

"It´s the only way to survive… at least for shinobi. Feudal Lords ambitions finance our villages, food and resources. When they grow more ambitious, they send us to conquer new lands for them. And thus war is made" Ishikawa sighed. "Don´t misunderstand me, I despise war as much as Hashirama Senju does, but unlike him, I recognize it´s importance for the shinobi." He shook his head. "Mere missions simply are not enough to cost our lives."

"I understand" despite saying that, Muu didn´t want to go to war either. It was such a disgusting horrible thing in which many people died… there has to be way to avoid something like that happening. Then something occurred him. "Tsuchikage-sama, some men might get it into their heads that you want the child and get it in your name or just for the sake of personal glory…"

"If that´s so, then let them" the Kamizuru waived his hand, dismissing him. "I might not want a conflict just yet, but I´m not mad enough to turn down such a gift."

"And if they are caught?"

"It will be their problem" answered the Shodaime Tsuchikage, reaching a door. "We could deny all involvement in the attempted kidnapping and it will be truth, so Konoha could make no demands to us" he opened the door, which made a horrible sound. "Now, Muu, how about you coming in with me? I want to know if my dear grandson finally got what I´m trying to teach him…"

-In another place-

"Ishikawa Kamizuru wants a war… and now I am doubting about Hashirama Senju´s desire for peace" Reto was talking to his possible successor, who just looked at his nails and continued playing with them. He didn´t care what the old man was saying and frankly he thought it stupid to the max. did those old men always thought everything was a grab for power? The Hokage was having a child, not declaring war, for fuck´s sake. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yeah, yeah, chill out" he waved his hand. "I don´t know why you are making such a fuss over that. It´s just a baby!" the kazekage glared at him. "Come on, those things happened. Even you knocked up your wife a couple of times."

"Four… and I am still thinking it was a bad idea. You don´t know how women are when they are pregnant" he shuddered. "Knowing Madara Uchiha, she probably is going to make us a favour and kill her husband in the middle of a mood swing. That would be something worth to see."

"You know her?" suddenly the young man was interested. "Is she hot? I heard that babe of an Uzumaki princess wanted Hashirama´s bones, but he turned her down for the other one. And you should see what he turned down" he licked his lips. "The kind of knockers she had…"

"Pervert" not for the first time, Reto wondered why the hell did he choose this immature brat to occupy his post after him. "And no, the only thing hot about her is her fire jutsus."

"Come on, there has to be something about her that…"

"Only if you like masculine women"

"Ohhhhhh, really? she can´t be that bad" there was no answer. "NOOOO! Really? I mean, sure I have had a few masculine women, but experimentation only takes you somewhere" he suddenly got very thoughtful. "Wonder if he is gay, that would surely explain a few things, especially those overpowered girly jutsus of him."

"Okay, I´m out" Reto escaped from his own office, wanting to forget everything he heard in that room. Let Hashirama and Ishikawa rip out each other´s throats, he was not getting into that. Not until Suna was strong and until he got a successor that was both worthy and won´t turn is adversaries marriages into some kind of fucked up kind of kinkiness that only he understood. That was beyond him.

-In Konoha-

"You want me to do what?" Tobirama still couldn´t believe what his brother was asking of him. Because… well, he surely can create a jutsu, and not just a jutsu, but an amazing quantity of them in a very short time, but this was getting a little too far. "Are you feeling okay? Because you might be suffering of a concussion or…"

"Awwww, come on, Tobi, it´s for the safety of the baby" Hashirama answered in a pleading tone. Since news of Madara´s pregnancy went out, the Hokage went into overdrive to guarantee his pregnant wife´s and future child´s safety. And he was right to do it, because some ninjas of the other villages thought it would be a great idea to steal the child. Fortunately, they were acting on their own, or so the Yamanakas said, and war was avoided. The only exception was that peculiar fungus the Shodaime captured, which now was being held in the investigation lab.

"Aniya, you already have me working here as your advisor, coordinating the guards sent to your house and after that I have to go to the investigation centre to try and dissect that fungus you put me in charge of. I don´t have time for silly things like creating a useless jutsu."

"Come on, do it! I can give you free time from the fungus project" answered the older Senju. "By the way, did you find out something important from that fungus?"

"The knowledge it had about ninja history is amazing" Tobirama´s eyes suddenly softened, remembering all the knowledge he managed to gain in his daily… ahem, visits to the creepy being. "It says it even witnessed the firs battle of Senju against Uchiha. Apparently, we were one clan until the bratty ancestor of the Uchiha threw the mother of all temper tantrums to try and steal his brother´s right to be heir and…"

"Amazing… but don´t tell the Uchihas that" Hashirama has enough troubles without further angering his wife. "But, please… a jutsu like that would make my life a lot easier…"

"I´m not doing a diaper changing jutsu!"

"Come on! I´m even removing you from the fungus sitting duty if you do it"

"Don´t you dare" growled the albino, glaring at him at the same time. "That thing is the most interesting thing I found in years and I´m not letting you take it out of my hands. I´m not doing your stupid jutsu and you are not putting that thing in anyone else´s care."

"I had to try" Hashirama sighed, "Why is it so interesting anyway?"

"You have no idea"

-In the lab-

Zetsu was glaring at everything around him. he was the Will of Kaguya, the maker of shinobi history, he had manipulated great ninjas to start a war and destroyed his traitorous brother´s precious world. He was invincible, incredible, not some… some… jelly! He agitated in the jelly jay he was sealed in, trying to find a way out. Unfortunately, the jar was secured. He was about to curse his luck for the tenth time in an hour when Tobirama Senju entered the room, his hands in plastic gloves. Zetsu steeled himself for a painful day.

"Okay, let´s go on with test number fifty five" the albino started and took some… was that a… he didn´t know what it was, but it surely was going to hurt. And a lot. He tried to escape, to get out as fast as the other opened the jar. Unfortunately, he wasn´t fast enough. He was placed in the dissecting table and… oh goddess, this was not his day.

And Hashi stuck the fungus in a jelly jar! Who doesn´t enjoyed that? Well, it took me long enough to write this chapter, but I didn´t find the inspiration to do so. Thank goodness, it came in the form of other fanfic I liked. Hope you like it. Review!


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